What Makes a Gifted Educator? A Design for Development

A Longitudinal Study of the Social Nature of the Construct of Giftedness in Adulthood

“…Practicing education to the point of virtuosity is akin to successful lifelong talent development described in gifted education resources. In line with this recognized commonality, the general lifespan talent development mega model (Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, & Worrell, 2011) with its developmental progression (i.e., ability, competence, expertise, eminence) discussed throughout this study, the process-based Renzulli's three-ring definition of giftedness (Renzulli, 1986) and the specific developmental model of the gifted educator (Porath, 2009;Towers & Porath, 2001), as well as the student-identified exemplary talented teachers (Gentry, Steenbergen-Hu, & Choi, 2011) form the theoretical bases for this study. Gifted individuals show a greater promise of the development of expertise than do non-gifted individuals.…”

The Role of Parents and Teachers in the Development of Scientific Talent: Lessons from Early Childhood and Adolescent Education of Nobel Laureates

“…These findings are highly supportive of research demonstrating highly able and successful children had gifted teachers during their school years. Such teachers are gifted individuals themselves with the ability to inspire and support truly meaningful learning (Porath, 2009). …”

The Gifted Dimension of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: Implications for Professional Learning.

“…In order to foster a growth mindset, reporting on gifted students' achievements should always evaluate the student's measurable progress in knowledge and skills from a personal starting point, and also effort expended in response to the challenge of the work being assessed, rather than focusing solely on the grade achieved (Dweck, 2007). Table 5 Gifted education must form part of the professional learning program for teachers if they are to be effective teachers for gifted students (Geake & Gross, 2008;Lassig, 2009;Plunkett, 2002). In the view of the Senate Committee (Collins, 2001) Research presented to the Senate Committee (Collins, 2001, p.3) moved them to conclude that when teachers are not educated about giftedness, they "are more likely to identify as gifted the well-behaved children of the dominant culture, and less likely to notice giftedness among underachievers or minority groups".…”