So, we started this series by exploring the adage of nature versus nurture when it comes to giftedness. Then, we took a detailed walk through the various components of a strong gifted identification process, one which is designed to learn as much about a child and his or her potential as possible. As I mentioned in that first post in this series, I firmly believe that giftedness is a factor of both nature (above-average ability, high-ability, or potential ability) and nurture (purposeful instruction to help students grow in their strength areas and purposeful exposure to enrichment in the world around us). During my doctoral program at The College of William and Mary, my dissertation chair, Dr. Tracy Cross, told our class one semester that, “School is a talent development process.” This is so true! We are all talent scouts, and we all must nurture the talents we find in our students, whether they went through a formal gifted identification process or not. Giftedness cannot happen in a vacuum; it’s up to teachers to nurture that nature in ALL students as well as parents to nurture their children at home, too! It’s not easy, but I’m here to help you! Please share your thoughts on my Gifted Identification Series and/or the nature vs. nurture topic in the comments.
Teaching for Talent 