Unlocking Creative Productivity: A Talent Development Approach

Abstract

In 2011, the authors published a synthesis of the psychological literature available in English related to giftedness, talent, eminence, high performance, and creativity. This synthesis led to the development of the Talent Development Megamodel, which is an evolving tool to promote policies and practices that support giftedness in domains such as academics, the arts, sport, and the professions. The model focuses on seven principles and has recently added an eighth. The principles include: (1) giftedness is malleable and manifested in domains; (2) opportunities must be offered to develop abilities into competencies, expertise, and sometimes eminence; (3) different domains begin, peak, and end at different times; (4) opportunities to develop talent must be offered inside of school, outside of school, and beyond the school years; (5) opportunities have to be taken by talented individuals; (6) mental skills like screening out distractions can be taught and become increasingly important in the talent development process; (7) social skills like being able to promote oneself tastefully become increasingly important in the talent development process; (8) if talent development and gifted education are to become more equitable, accessing insider knowledge associated with the process of talent development needs to be widely available to all schools and families.