Elena I. Shcheblanova

Background. The article is devoted to the 110th anniversary of the founding of the Psychological Institute in Moscow. The main topics of discussions on the problems of giftedness at the beginning of the 20th century are considered in the context of modern psychology. 

Objective. The article has its purpose to show the persisting relevance of the conceptual ideas about giftedness formed in the initial period of its scientific study and their development in theoretical and experimental research in the Psychological Institute over the late 20th and early 21st centuries. 

Results. Analysis of the debates on the problems of giftedness at the first Russian psychological congresses and publications by G.I. Chelpanov, P.P. Blonsky, L.S. Vygotsky, V.M. Ekzemplyarsky demonstrates that their statements about the complexity and originality of the manifestations and development of giftedness continue to be the attention focus of psychologists and educators. The development of these ideas can be traced in the differential psychology of B.M. Teplov, in the giftedness concepts of N.S. Leites and A.M. Matyushkin. The research results of the department of psychology of giftedness at PI RAO over the last five years keep expanding the ideas about giftedness proposed by its first researchers: on the integrity and complexity of the mental giftedness phenomenon, on identification and development of gifted children, on developmental education technologies for children with different types of giftedness and methods of their psychological and pedagogical support, on the telic theoretical and practical training of teachers for gifted children. 

Conclusion. The approach to the problem of giftedness, proposed in the works of G.I. Chelpanov and the first researchers of the Psychological Institute, preserved and received its further development, despite persecution of the scientists, obstacles, and prohibitions on their works. The perspectiveness of most of these ideas has been proven in more recent research on ability, giftedness, thinking, and creativity, including work carried out in the 21st century.

Background. The article is devoted to the analysis of changes in modern scientific ideas about the giftedness of children in recent years on the example of the most famous concepts and models in the world. The relevance of the study is due to the need for scientific substantiation of approaches to the identification, development and support of gifted children as one of the priority areas of the education system.

Objective — to characterize the main trends in the evolution of the world-recognized concepts and models of intellectual giftedness and its development in the context of the modern education tasks, based on the analysis of scientific publications, mainly of the last five years.

Results. It is shown that one of the main trends of changes in the concepts of giftedness is the expansion and complication of ideas about its cognitive as well as non-cognitive intrapersonal components and their development in interaction with the influence of the environment. The research demonstrated specifics of manifestations and development of giftedness in different types of mental activity and the individual variability of its dynamics at different age and educational stages. The author substantiated the necessity of building an educational environment conducive to developing the giftedness of different types and creating more complex, varied, and dynamic educational strategies and methods.

Conclusion. The results of the study expand and deepen the understanding of giftedness in children and youth, demonstrate the variability of its cognitive, intrapersonal, sociopsychological characteristics,create a fundamental basis for the development and support of advanced educational practice.

Background. The study of personal characteristics and cognitive needs of the intellectually gifted students with underachievement in school is relevant for the scientific substantiation of the personal and professional development programs and training for the teachers to interact with such pupils.

Objective. Theoretical and methodological analysis of new scientific data on the cognitive and personal development of intellectually gifted schoolchildren underachieving in education as the psychological and pedagogical basis for developing teacher training for interaction with such students; empirical study of motivational and personal characteristics of intellectually gifted schoolchildren with different academic achievement.

Study Participants. The empirical study involved 460 intellectually gifted students in grades 5–10 in Moscow schools, 74–80 people in each cohort.

Methods. Theoretical and analytical review of new scientific publications on the peculiarities of the cognitive and personal development of intellectually gifted schoolchildren underachieving in education as well as their psychological and pedagogical support by teachers. The empirical study implemented the diagnostics complex including tests of cognitive abilities, questionnaires of achievement motivation, academic and general self-esteem (adapted by the author: Scheblanova, 2006), parametric statistical methods for the data processing.

Results. The analysis of the school teachers’ ideas about self-efficacy in teaching gifted students demonstrated their insufficient professional readiness to work with such pupils. Recent scientific publications review highlighted the important aspects of the modern understanding on differentiated approach to the identification and education of intellectually gifted children taking into consideration the new data on the variability of giftedness manifestations and trajectories of its development in the programs for the personal and professional development of teachers.

Conclusions. The study provides theoretically and empirically substantiated basis for developing teacher professional and personal training for effective interaction with intellectually gifted students, and namely, — understanding the peculiarities of not only cognitive, but also motivational and personal development of students with high abilities and varying academic achievement as well as the need of psychological and pedagogical support for intellectually gifted underachievers.