The paper explores the question of how gifted and talented adolescents experience being gifted in high school. Fifteen subjects were interviewed twice while attending a special summer program in order to answer this general question. The data were analyzed and interpreted using a set of research questions which postulated that the subjects would…

Passion for learning (PFL) in children is a phenomenon that is little understood. The experience of PFL was studied with phenomenological and qualitative modes of inquiry. Case studies of six domains (acting, reading, filmmaking, spelling, math, and preaching) describe how the passion developed using the voices of children and parents. Their…

Interviews with 15 gifted/talented adolescents indicated that many of them experienced giftedness as a social handicap. Some students coped with this by managing information about themselves to minimize their visibility as gifted students to others. (Author/JDD)

A model Talent Development Program is described, designed to meet the atypical learning styles and needs of gifted students. Structural factors in conventional schools that are antithetical to talent development are discussed, and provisions for facilitating scholarly inquiry and apprenticeships for students are outlined. (Author/PB)