An Interview with Larisa Shavinina: International Perspectives on Giftedness

Michael F. Shaughnessy - 11.29.09
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
Portales, New Mexico

1) Larisa , you have just completed a massive international text on giftedness. How did this come about?

I have always had an impression that the existing publications in the area did not cover all facets of giftedness and gifted education and did not present some emerging trends in research and practice (e.g., entrepreneurial giftedness). In brief, it was impossible to find any handbook that would cover all possible aspects of high ability and that would provide clear answers to issues raised by scholars and practitioners alike. I hence came to believe that the time was ripe for an International Handbook on Giftedness—a volume that would comprehensively cover all facets of giftedness and thus would help guide research and practice during next decades and, therefore, would advance the field.

Specifically, this Handbook first of all introduces fresh research on giftedness, which was not considered in Heller et al. (2000) and Colangelo et al. (2003) handbooks (e.g., musical talent, gifted learners who drop out, legal issues in gifted education, feminine perspective on giftedness, just to mention a few) and was not presented in other books and scholarly journals (e.g., happiness of the gifted and talented, entrepreneurial giftedness, multiple giftedness in adults, managerial talent, interdisciplinary ideas in gifted education, innovation education for the gifted), just to note a few.

Second, the International Handbook on Giftedness presents new research directions in the area of giftedness, which was not considered in Heller et al. (2000) and in Colangelo et al. (2003) handbooks, but was published in scholarly journals only in recent years (e.g., talent in cinema or new trends in the neuropsychology of giftedness).

Third, this Handbook presents recent developments in giftedness research and practice that took place after the publication of Heller et al. (2000) and Colangelo et al. (2003) handbooks (e.g., recent advances in gifted education in mega-cities like New York and London, UK).

2) Exactly how many papers and how many authors have been involved?

78 chapters and 118 authors. Some of them contributed a few chapters.

3) Why is this text needed?

As I mentioned above, the International Handbook on Giftedness presents and discusses those issues, which other publications in the field of giftedness did not do. I noticed above 3 important distinctions of this Handbook from other texts.

4) What are some of the main themes of the book?

In addition to those that I pointed out above, let me mention the titles of some parts of the Handbook. These are ‘the nature of giftedness,’ ‘the neuropsychology of giftedness,’ ‘developmental and cognitive foundations of giftedness, ’personality of the gifted, individual differences, and gender-related issues,’ ‘twice-exceptional gifted individuals and suicide-related issues,’ ‘types of giftedness,’ ‘domain-specific and multiple giftedness,’ ‘giftedness, society, and economy,’ ‘assessment and identification of giftedness,’ ‘recent advances in gifted education,’ ‘policy implications and legal issues in gifted education,’ and ‘giftedness research and gifted education around the world: institutional and regional examples.’ It is impossible to mention the titles of all the chapters.

5) What interesting themes emanated as you worked on this text?

Happiness of the gifted and talented, suicide of the gifted, latest developments in gifted education in mega-cities like New York and London, UK, recent advances in genetics of giftedness, just to mention a few, were not initially on the list of themes for this Handbook. They appeared in the course of the work on the Handbook.

6) Will this assist both parents, and teachers of the gifted, and how?

Both parents and teachers of the gifted will find a lot of useful information for themselves on a great variety of topics, which cannot be found in other publications (e.g., entrepreneurial giftedness, multiple giftedness, innovation education, and so on); especially if all of them are put in one book.

7) Who were some of the key people in the United States that contributed and some of the other leaders from around the world?

Almost all contributors are the key players in the field of giftedness research and gifted education. There are many well-known names (e.g., J. Renzulli, J. van Tassel-Basca, R. Subotnik, T. Cross., D. Ambrose, L. Brody, N. Colangelo, S. Reis, K. Noble, L. Silverman, D. Simonton and many-many others), as well as some raising stars in the field (e.g., D. Dai, N. Hertzog, L. Hyatt, and many-many others). The other leaders from around the world include M. Gross, B. Shore, J. Lupart, R. Persson, E. Landau, B. Wallace, D. Eyre, and many-many others.

8) who is publishing this and how can colleges and universities and libraries get a copy?

Springer Science and Business Media. Just buy on-line from the Springer website or on amazon.com