Dr. James Borland is Professor Emeritus at Teachers College, Columbia University. His scholarship has had a significant influence on how educators conceptualize giftedness, talent development, and access to advanced learning.
Key Contribution: Reconceptualizing Giftedness
Dr. Borland challenges the traditional notion of giftedness as a fixed trait possessed by a small group of students. Instead, he advocates for viewing gifted education as a set of services designed to develop talent through opportunity and access.
This perspective shifts the focus from labeling students to examining:
- Who has access to advanced learning opportunities,
- How talent is cultivated over time, and
- The role of schools in developing, rather than merely identifying, ability.
To learn more about his research on the gifted identification of underrepresented students, read the monograph he wrote for the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
Impact on Underrepresented Gifted Students
This reconceptualization has important equity implications:
- It reduces gatekeeping practices that exclude capable learners.
- It emphasizes growth and opportunity rather than scarcity.
- It supports broader participation in advanced learning.
How Educators Can Apply This
Applications of Borland’s work include:
- Offering advanced learning opportunities broadly rather than restrictively.
- Focusing on talent development instead of labels.
- Reexamining rigid identification criteria and practices.
In Sum
Dr. Borland’s work invites educators to rethink not who gifted students are, but what gifted education is for, and to create inclusive systems to ensure we do not overlook underrepresented gifted students.
Your Turn
Dr. Borland was one of the first prominent gifted researchers to raise the issue of how we identify and don’t identify gifted students. How does your school or school division prioritize opportunity and talent development over labels? Please share your observations in the comments so we can learn from each other. ~Ann
Teaching for Talent 