Educating gifted persons who are caring and concerned

The Effects of a Service-Learning Program on the Development of Civic Attitudes and Behaviors among Academically Talented Adolescents

“…Generally, academically gifted students are viewed as socially and emotionally mature and morally advanced compared to nongifted students. Specifically, a more highly developed sense of social justice, fairness, morality, concern for others, and interest in global issues have been empirically demonstrated for gifted students (Gross, 1993;Passow, 1988Passow, , 1989Silverman, 1994;Tan-Willman & Gutteridge, 1981). Also, there is evidence of greater independence, responsibility, positive self-concept, self-confidence, and self-esteem (Ablard, 1997;Chan, 1988;Davis & Rimm, 1998;Janos, Fung, & Robinson, 1985;Katz, 1995;Olszewski-Kubilius, Kulieke, & Krasney, 1988;Sorenson & Francis, 1988) on the part of academically gifted students.…”

“…Also, there is evidence of greater independence, responsibility, positive self-concept, self-confidence, and self-esteem (Ablard, 1997;Chan, 1988;Davis & Rimm, 1998;Janos, Fung, & Robinson, 1985;Katz, 1995;Olszewski-Kubilius, Kulieke, & Krasney, 1988;Sorenson & Francis, 1988) on the part of academically gifted students. Researchers and educators assert that for academically gifted learners who are generally interested in and sensitive to interpersonal, moral, social, and global issues, servicelearning activities are a good match to these characteristics (Lewis, 1996;Passow, 1989; Silverman, as cited in Lewis;Terry, 2000;Terry & Bohnenberger, 2003). Service-learning activities not only respond to gifted students' interests and personalities, but they further enhance their sensitivity to and interest and engagement in community, society, and world issues (Passow, 1988(Passow, , 1989.…”

“…Researchers and educators assert that for academically gifted learners who are generally interested in and sensitive to interpersonal, moral, social, and global issues, servicelearning activities are a good match to these characteristics (Lewis, 1996;Passow, 1989; Silverman, as cited in Lewis;Terry, 2000;Terry & Bohnenberger, 2003). Service-learning activities not only respond to gifted students' interests and personalities, but they further enhance their sensitivity to and interest and engagement in community, society, and world issues (Passow, 1988(Passow, , 1989.…”

“…Although service-learning has been proposed for gifted learners, only a few educational programs that are designed specifically to enhance important nonacademic skills including leadership, moral sensitivity, cooperation, and an orientation toward the future exist particularly for gifted students (Passow, 1988). Similarly, much less attention has been paid in gifted education to the development of leadership compared to other areas of giftedness (mainly intellectual or academic) either in program development or empirical research (Hays, 1993;Matthews, 2004;Smyth & Ross, 1999).…”

“…Passow (1988) asserted that educators of the gifted should focus on the development of caring, concerned, compassionate, and committed individuals who are able to appreciate the value of giftedness and utilize it for both self-fulfillment and the welfare of society. Passow (1988Passow ( , 1989 also suggested that schools need to integrate learning resources from the community into classroom learning to enable gifted students to become more sensitive to community and global issues such as poverty, famine, war, racial conflict, depletion of resources, cultural conflict, communal health, employment, and so forth. Service-learning is one example of a methodology that integrates community and global issues and academic content with purposeful learning objectives.…”