Paradigm Shifts in Gifted Education: An Examination Vis-à-Vis Its Historical Situatedness and Pedagogical Sensibilities

Abstract

After nearly a century of development, gifted education has evolved into a complex educational discipline with well thought out pedagogy and research agendas. However, while the number of studies escalates, the field as a whole has been criticized for producing fragmented and piecemeal results. One of the reasons for these shortfalls is that the field has invested little in meta-theoretical aspects, such as historical perspectives and philosophical foundations. This article is a comprehensive review and analysis of the conceptual changes and paradigm shifts in gifted education. Three major paradigm shifts in gifted education were identified—demystification (i.e., giftedness as manifested wonders), identification (i.e., giftedness as measurable predictions), and transaction (i.e., effectuation of human possibilities). Presently, there is still an implicit focus on the identification paradigm despite considerable efforts to shift the focus to creating and sustaining appropriate developmental niches for all individuals. Debates in the field are highlighted to provoke discussion of future directions.

The social and emotional world of gifted students: Moving beyond the label

“…In their sweeping theoretical treatise on the history of gifted education in the United States, Lo and Porath (2017) identify several important ways in which the field is changing in paradigm. They highlight the recent movement from exclusivity to diversity , simplicity to complexity , and importantly, from being to becoming .…”

High ability students with coexisting disabilities: Implications for school psychological practice

“…Yet, the findings from Robertson et al (2011) would suggest school psychologists do not typically include assessment of giftedness within their toolkit of skills. In part, this may be related to the fact that the gifted education community still wrestles with theoretical issues (Dai & Chen, 2013), including such fundamental aspects as definition and identification (Lo & Porath, 2017), which directly impact service.…”

Reenvisioning Gifted Education in British Columbia: A Qualitative Research Protocol of Policy Analysis in the Context of a Redesigned Curriculum

“…That is, the purpose of gifted education is to meet the learning needs of an advanced learner that cannot be otherwise fulfilled through the implementation of a regular curriculum in a local context. While gifted education is still, largely and mistakenly, viewed as elitist (Matthews & Dai, 2014;Sapon-Shevin, 2000), it has undergone several major conceptual changes and now embraces inclusive (i.e., nonsegregated) and democratic practices that eschew elitism and entrenched social gaps (Lo, 2014b;Lo & Porath, 2017).…”