A Conceptual History of Gifted Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70437/educative.v4i1.1574Keywords:
gifted education, history, equity, identification, paradigm shiftsAbstract
This paper traces the historical evolution of giftedness conceptualization from ancient philosophical foundations to modern psychometric paradigms, delineating shifts from demystification (scientific scrutiny of divine/mystical traits) to identification and emerging transactional models emphasizing context and equity. Employing a narrative literature review of primary texts and secondary analyses, it examines philosophical founders—Plato's meritocratic "golden souls", Aristotle's neurotic genius, Locke's nurtured "natural genius" Rousseau's natural education, Kant's artistic originality, Schopenhauer's idea-contemplating anomaly and modern pioneers like Galton's hereditarianism, Terman's longitudinal studies, Binet's modifiable judgment, Lombroso's pathological degeneration, Yoder's early recognition, and Cattell's mental tests. Findings reveal embedded elitism and inequities, urging inclusive, ethical practices for dynamic potential realization.
Downloads Statistics
References
Abad, A., & Abad, T. M. (2021). Dotação e talento [Giftedness and talent]. Educação Por Escrito, 12(1), Article e35339. https://doi.org/10.15448/2179-8435.2021.1.35339
Al-Duraywish, A. A. (2023). Nurturing brilliance: A cross-cultural exploration of supporting gifted children. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 10(11), 124–133. https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2023.11.016
Artuk, M. E., & Yilmaz, E. (2023). An analysis on Cesare Lombroso, known as the father of criminology. Belgi Dergisi, 2(26), 1331–1348. https://doi.org/10.33431/belgi.1371926
Baccassino, F., & Pinnelli, S. (2023). Giftedness and gifted education: A systematic literature review. Frontiers in Education, 7, Article 1073007. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.1073007
Beauvais, C. (2016). Californian genius: Lewis Terman’s gifted child in regional perspective. Paedagogica Historica, 52(6), 748–762. https://doi.org/10.1080/00309230.2016.1243138
Burch, R. (2017). On Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s ideal of natural education. Dialogue and Universalism, 27(1), 189–205. https://doi.org/10.5840/du201727117
Card, D., & Giuliano, L. (2016). Universal screening increases the representation of low-income and minority students in gifted education. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(48), 13678–13683. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605043113
Carson, S. (2014). Leveraging the “mad genius” debate: Why we need a neuroscience of creativity and psychopathology. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, Article 771. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00771
Cattell, J. M. (1926). Aptitude and achievement. Nature, 117(2933), 87–88. https://doi.org/10.1038/117087a0
Cattell, R. B. (1988). The principles of experimental design. In Psychological theory and scientific method (pp. 3–20). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0893-5_1
Cianciolo, A. T., & Sternberg, R. J. (2004). Intelligence: A brief history. Blackwell Publishing.
Cody, R. A., Boldt, G. T., Canavan, E. J., Gubbins, E. J., Hayden, S. M., Bellara, A. P., & Kearney, K. L. (2022). Teachers’ reported beliefs about giftedness among twice exceptional and culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse populations. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 953059. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.953059
Colangelo, N. (2018). Gifted education to honors education: A curious history, a vibrant future. Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 19(2), 3–14. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchcjournal/583
Costa, M. P. D., & Lubart, T. (2016). Gifted and talented children: Heterogeneity and individual differences. Anales de Psicología, 32(3), 662–671. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.32.3.259421
Cuadrado, J. Á. G. (2017). Suarez on genius and melancholy. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University: Philosophy and Conflict Studies, 33(2), 205–214. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu17.2017.205
Dai, D. Y. (2020). Rethinking human potential from a talent development perspective. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 43(1), 19–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0162353219897850
Doichyk, M., & Doichyk, O. (2021). Epistemological premises for the concept of dignity in John Locke’s philosophical discourse. Epistemological Studies in Philosophy, Social and Political Sciences, 4(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.15421/342101
Dousson, L. (2022). How do you make a “gifted child”? Analysis of the socialization at work in the families of children categorized as “gifted” [Doctoral dissertation, Université Lumière Lyon 2]. HAL Open Science. https://shs.hal.science/tel-04364895
Gatti, U., & Verde, A. (2011). Cesare Lombroso: Methodological ambiguities and brilliant intuitions. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 35(1), 19–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2011.11.004
Gibson, M. S. (2006). Cesare Lombroso and Italian criminology: Theory and politics. In P. Becker & R. F. Wetzell (Eds.), Criminals and their scientists: The history of criminology in international perspective (pp. 137–158). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139052405.007
Graus, A., & Mülberger, A. (2020). Children’s exceptional minds as socio-economic resource. Dynamis: Acta Hispanica ad Medicinae Scientiarumque Historiam Illustrandam, 40(2), 285–310. https://doi.org/10.30827/dynamis.v40i2.17967
Green, S. (2012). A proximidade entre gênio e loucura: Um estudo sobre a estética de Schopenhauer [The proximity between genius and madness: A study on Schopenhauer's aesthetics]. Voluntas: Revista Internacional de Filosofia, 3(1-2), 224–239. https://doi.org/10.5902/2179378634028
Guilherme, A. A., & Picoli, B. A. (2021). Plutocracy, Platonism and education in Brazil: Some reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic. RUDN Journal of Philosophy, 25(4), 589–601. https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2302-2021-25-4-589-601
Gül, M. D., & Ayık, Z. (2023). Enrichment studies in gifted education: A bibliometric analysis with RStudio. Participatory Educational Research, 10(3), 266–287. https://doi.org/10.17275/per.23.55.10.3
Hennig, J. (2016). Entgrenzungen des Wahnsinns [Boundaries of madness]. In De Gruyter eBooks. De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110443493
Hodges, J., Tay, J., Maeda, Y., & Gentry, M. (2018). A meta-analysis of gifted and talented identification practices. Gifted Child Quarterly, 62(2), 147–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986217752107
İnan, E., & Uyangör, S. M. (2022). A thematic analysis of theses prepared on mathematics education with gifted and talented students in Türkiye. Participatory Educational Research, 9(6), 19–43. https://doi.org/10.17275/per.22.127.9.6
Irvine, P. (1986). James McKeen Cattell (1860-1944). The Journal of Special Education, 20(2), 150–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/002246698602000202
Jensen, A. R. (2002). Galton’s legacy to research on intelligence. Journal of Biosocial Science, 34(2), 145–172. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021932002001451
Jolly, J. L. (2005a). Foundations of the field of gifted education. Gifted Child Today, 28(2), 14–18. https://doi.org/10.4219/gct-2005-169
Jolly, J. L. (2005b). Pioneering definitions and theoretical positions in the field of gifted education. Gifted Child Today, 28(3), 38–44. https://doi.org/10.4219/gct-2005-174
Jolly, J. L. (2013). Alfred Binet: A creative life in measurement and pedagogy (1857–1911). In A. Robinson & J. L. Jolly (Eds.), A history of American gifted education (pp. 47–62). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203154489-12
Jolly, J. L., & Kettler, T. (2008). Gifted education research 1994–2003: A disconnect between priorities and practice. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 31(4), 427–446. https://doi.org/10.4219/jeg-2008-792
Köksal, İ., & Bıçakçı, M. (2021). Philosophical views on giftedness. In Handbooks on Gifted Education. [Insert Publisher if available, otherwise use University Dept].
Kuznetsova, E., Liashenko, A., Zhozhikashvili, N., & Arsalidou, M. (2024). Giftedness identification and cognitive, physiological and psychological characteristics of gifted children: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1411981. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1411981
Lang, J. W. B., & Corstjens, J. (2022). Key episodes in the history of testing in Central Western Europe. In Cambridge University Press eBooks (pp. 111–135). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108755078.008
Lebedeva, E. V., Berezina, V. A., & Kaygorodova, A. E. (2022). Responsibility as a universal component of soft competencies of vocational education teachers. Insight, 3(21), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.17853/2686-8970-2022-3-21-35
Lo, C. O., & Porath, M. (2017). Paradigm shifts in gifted education: An examination vis-à-vis its historical situatedness and pedagogical sensibilities. Gifted Child Quarterly, 61(4), 343–360. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986217722840
Locke, J. (1990). Some thoughts concerning education (J. W. Yolton & J. S. Yolton, Eds.). Clarendon Press. (Original work published 1693).
Lubinski, D. (2016). From Terman to today. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 900–944. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316675476
Matthews, D. J., & Dai, D. Y. (2014). Gifted education: Changing conceptions, emphases and practice. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 24(4), 335–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/09620214.2014.979578
Mazzarello, P. (2011). Cesare Lombroso: An anthropologist between evolution and degeneration. Functional Neurology, 26(2), 97–101. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21729591
McClelland, D. C. (1973). Testing for competence rather than for “intelligence.” American Psychologist, 28(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034092
Michell, J. (2012). Alfred Binet and the concept of heterogeneous orders. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, Article 261. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00261
Mrázik, M., & Dombrowski, S. C. (2010). The neurobiological foundations of giftedness. Roeper Review, 32(4), 224–230. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2010.508154
Murcia, A. G. J. (2020). Resignificando la mirada desde el pensamiento complejo mediante la apreciación estética de “Melancolía I” [Resignifying the gaze from complex thought through the aesthetic appreciation of "Melancholia I"]. Educación, 29(57), 127–146. https://doi.org/10.18800/educacion.202002.006
Nesselroade, J. R. (2001). Cattell, Raymond Bernard (1905–98). In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 1546–1548). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/b0-08-043076-7/00225-4
Nicolas, S., & Levine, Z. (2012). Beyond intelligence testing: The first series of Binet-Simon tests (1905). European Psychologist, 17(4), 320–325. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000117
Ömeroğlu, E., Sarıkaya, R., Dağlıoğlu, H. E., Çakmak, E. K., Karataş, S., Bulut, S. A., Şahin, M. G., Kukul, V., Doğan, A. T., & Basit, O. (2017). The terms used in gifted and talented education in Turkey, relevant legal framework and educational practices. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 9(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.20489/intjecse.329697
Papadopoulos, D. (2020). Psychological framework for gifted children’s cognitive and socio-emotional development: A review of the research literature and implications. Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists, 8(1), 305–323. https://doi.org/10.17478/jegys.666308
Pidlypniak, I. Y., Marchuk, O., Naichuk, V., Trifonova, O. M., Korniienko, I., & Mashchak, S. (2023). Detection of intellectual giftedness in children of different ages and methods of its development as an aspect of neurophysiological development. Brain. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, 14(1), 252–267. https://doi.org/10.18662/brain/14.1/418
Praz, J. (2017). Negation and diffraction of will in education [Doctoral dissertation]. HAL Open Science. https://theses.hal.science/tel-01643673
Reyes, M. E. S., Zantua, B. E. V., Nunez, R. A. V., Manrique, W. S. M., & Antonio, J. A. C. (2017). Exploring the mental health status of artistically gifted Filipino adolescents. North American Journal of Psychology, 19(2), 451–460.
Smith-Peterson, M. (2021). Excavating histories of the present in GT [Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota]. University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/225024
Sternberg, R. J. (2020). Transformational giftedness: Rethinking our paradigm for gifted education. Roeper Review, 42(4), 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2020.1815266
Sternberg, R. J., Desmet, O. A., Ford, D. Y., Gentry, M., Grantham, T. C., & Karami, S. (2021). The legacy: Coming to terms with the origins and development of the gifted-child movement. Roeper Review, 43(4), 227–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2021.1967544
Thuy, H. T. P. (2020). John Locke’s educational ideology with educational innovation in Vietnam today. Journal of Advances in Education and Philosophy, 4(9), 381–386. https://doi.org/10.36348/jaep.2020.v04i09.001
Tourón, J. (2019). Las altas capacidades en el sistema educativo español: Reflexiones sobre el concepto y la identificación [High capacities in the Spanish educational system: Reflections on the concept and identification]. Revista de Investigación Educativa, 38(1), 15–32. https://doi.org/10.6018/rie.396781
Verschueren, K., & Rinn, A. N. (2024). The role of psychosocial and contextual factors in academic talent development: In search of general and specific developmental processes. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 47(4), 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1177/01623532241278987
Warne, R. T. (2018). An evaluation (and vindication?) of Lewis Terman: What the father of gifted education can teach the 21st century. Gifted Child Quarterly, 63(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986218799433
Weismann-Arcache, C., & Tordjman, S. (2012). Relationships between depression and high intellectual potential. Depression Research and Treatment, 2012, Article 567376. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/567376
White, D. A. (2003). Philosophy and theory in the study of gifted children. Roeper Review, 26(1), 16–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783190309554234
Worrell, F. C., & Erwin, J. (2011). Best practices in identifying students for gifted and talented education programs. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 27(4), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377903.2011.615817
Zarubin, I. Y. (2023). The extrospective method for assessment of students’ general competencies in industrial internships. Insight, 4(28), 28–38. https://doi.org/10.17853/2686-8970-2023-4-28-38
Downloads
Published
Check index
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Tyrone O. Gil Jr.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
