This article describes the characteristics and accomplishments of Maria Helena Novaes, one of the most creative school psychologists of Brazil. It identifies the people who influenced her and some of the factors that may have contributed to her achievements and rise to eminence. It highlights the numerous opportunities she received during her life…

A number of characteristics are shared between attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and gifted populations. They include issues with sustaining attention, following directions, and completing tasks. When an individual is both gifted and has ADHD (gifted-ADHD) he has unique educational needs that may put him at risk for underachievement.…

I am in the unique position as headteacher to develop policy in my school, influencing the experiences of staff, parents and children, as well as a wider audience through my essays and published work (Mounter, 2008). This essay will be in the form of a narrative using the living theory action research approach (Whitehead and McNiff, 2006). It will…

In this account I explore and clarify my responsibility as I explain how I have come to my current understanding of talent creation, and why I feel it is so important to develop an inclusive approach to talent creation which provides opportunities for all the children to develop talents through their time at school, and to have them recognised and…

My most vivid childhood memories of learning at school were not what the teachers taught me but what I found out for myself. I remember at junior school completing a project on childhood games and feeling important when I discovered there was a museum devoted to the topic. In Year 9 in geography a project on industry led me to interview a manager…

In this writing it is my intention to show how using philosophy and creative thinking with junior school children has enabled me to identify gifts and talents of which I might otherwise have been unaware and to show the impact this has had on the children concerned in terms of their own awareness of themselves as learners. I will also question…

This article discusses three lessons that stand out as particularly poignant in the author's career working with high-ability students. The author recounts personal and professional experiences that influenced his thinking. The three lessons are that identifying high-ability students is not an easy business, the development of talent requires more…

In 2006 a novel approach to talent support was promoted by several talent support programmes in Hungary. The new idea was a network approach. The nationwide network of so-called TalentPoints and its framework, the Hungarian Genius Program, gained substantial European Union funding in 2009, and today it is growing rapidly. A novel concept of talent…

At a conference, a secondary school teacher was very surprised when she heard about the idea of talent development in preschool education. "What does it mean?" she asked. In this paper we answer the above question with a model created by joint research. We describe our method of developing gifted children with the involvement of preschool teachers…

The objective of our article is to give an outline of the work carried out in assisting gifted individuals at the University of Debrecen. We also give an account of the historical background of our institute, including the relationship between our doctoral programme and gifted education; in addition, we run a teacher training programme that awards…

In 1996 the Hungarian Research Student Association (HRSA) was founded. Since then more than 6000 young, talented researchers have belonged to the Association. The founders set two principal aims: (1) to support the gifted and the most promising high school students and (2) to establish an active community. The movement has grown through the work…

In recent years, art education has been recognized as a suitable tool for enhancing emotional intelligence and nurturing a child's creative development. However, it seems that the education of art has lost the race against other primary school subjects, with only a minimal number of lessons being taught. The establishment of the afternoon art…

This article includes an introduction to the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM), with its three components: a total talent portfolio for each child, curriculum differentiation and modification, and enrichment opportunities from the Enrichment Triad Model. Also included is a brief history of the SEM and a summary of 30 years of research underlying…

A successful program needs a team approach which encourages teachers to undertake professional initiatives to enhance student growth. Such initiatives include: Type III's; workshops; Lunch with an Expert; an Expert in the Classroom; field trips; before, during and after school enrichment clusters; mentorships; assembly programs; speakers; starting…

This article provides a summary of efforts and projects related to the provision of gifted students and talent development in Swiss schools and with partners in the German speaking Central Europe. In the first part, relevant activities about teacher education in Switzerland based on a cooperative arrangement with the University of Connecticut will…