Abstract
This chapter demonstrates the arbitrary nature of giftedness in the United States. It describes five ways in which labeling and identifying children for gifted programs is an arbitrary decision. It will make explicit the subjective decision-making and value systems that underlie most protocols for identifying gifted children and describe the implications that it has on policies and practices in gifted education. Finally, the chapter will propose a vision for the field of gifted education that recognizes and celebrates the diversity of children and supports the role of the gifted educator to develop and nurture the strengths of all students.
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Hertzog, N.B. (2009). The Arbitrary Nature of Giftedness. In: Shavinina, L.V. (eds) International Handbook on Giftedness. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6162-2_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6162-2_8
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