Editorial

Abstract

This is the third issue of Gifted and Talented International, the journal for the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, that has been published online with Taylor and Francis. In this issue of Gifted and Talented International we have four articles with research findings from four different international contexts with important implications for supporting and teaching gifted and creative students for talent development. In the first article, the authors Ghahremani, Karami, and Balcaen focus on gifted science classrooms in Iran’s special schools for gifted students. The researchers investigated teachers’ instructional strategies for developing the students’ critical thinking, in addition to expert teachers’ culturally informed habits of mind that were identified. Interviews with the expert teachers resulted in the development of a culturally informed five elemental pentagram of habits of mind. In the second article, the authors Kerr, Birdnow, Hallaert, Alexander, Malmsten, Stull, Wright, Lucas, Swanson, and Claiborn studied innovation in Iceland in a range of fields including design, music, art, and literature. The researchers used a literature review, observations, interviews, and artifacts to examine why Iceland is so innovative. The researchers found that the creativity literature supported the idea that ability and personality attributes of Icelanders might be the source of Icelandic innovation. The popular literature often has referred to an environment of extremes and natural beauty that inspires higher rates of creativity and innovation, while the scholarly literature specifically relating to Iceland has suggested that open and egalitarian families; innovation education curricula and free play; cultural support for creativity; and government policies have propelled innovation in Iceland. However, the researchers’ observations found that interviewees often disputed the literature, particularly regarding the impact of high ability, natural environment, and policy on innovation, and that artifacts supported most environmental variables. In the third article in this issue of Gifted and Talented International, Miller and Smith explore differences in several aspects of creativity across academic majors for high-ability Honors College students in a Midwestern university in the United States. The authors found that the pattern of results generally indicated higher creativity among arts and humanities majors, compared to other disciplines such as education and preprofessional training, although these fields could also benefit from creative input. Potential curricular and experiential reasons for these differences were discussed, in addition to implications for educational programming and interventions. The fourth research study in this journal was conducted with Year 10 academically able students in the first co-educational select-entry secondary college in Victoria, Australia. The researchers of this study, Kronborg, Plunkett, Gamble, and Kaman, investigated a range of motivational constructs, including locus of control and resilience, and found that among these academically able students, those with a more internally focused locus of control were more resilient. We trust that these research articles and their international setup add to our current knowledge and understanding in gifted education.