Systems of work with gifted youth in Russia and abroad

The article contains a historical overview of stages of the educational work with gifted students in different countries. First stage - establishment of the mass education - includes elaboration of special conditions for education of selected gifted students or groups of students. At the second stage the support of gifted students already becomes a state objective, the extensive system of their detection and education is developed. At the third stage the state system of work with gifted individuals becomes intensive. Two main systems of selection and education of gifted students - extensive and intensive ones, have been outlined. The extensive system is characterized with detection of gifted children on the basis of academic achievements and with granting to them an opportunity to study at the higher level. The intensive system includes a detection of capable children not based on their achievements but on the basis of the potential, as well as it includes the work with motivation-demand area of gifted youth. There have been analyzed features and perspectives of systems that were formed when working with giftedness in various countries of the world - in particular in the US, Asian countries, Western Europe, the USSR and modern Russia. Presently, programs for gifted students cover 2% to 10% of the world’s population. In Russia, where presently mainly extensive methods of work with gifted individuals are practiced, total number of graduates of schools for gifted students and winners of high level competitions is slightly over 1000 persons per year - around 0,1% of graduates of all schools in the country, that is 1-2 orders less than the existing demand. Vast majority of gifted students remains undetected, since extensive methods do not detect hidden capabilities. The reason of that, in particular, could be absence of orientation of the educational environment to support gifted children. The overview of the literature regarding the problem outlined in this article indicates that the society and economics begin to need the large quantity of gifted people, the intensive approach is to be applied hence it is defined by the orientation to the hidden potential and accounts for motivation of gifted students. The article considers the motivational side of the giftedness and analyzes methods of support and development of educational motivation. On the basis of generalized domestic and foreign historical experience in education of highly capable students it is concluded that the actual task in Russia is to extend the work with gifted students that accomplishes the establishment of the extensive system, as well as implementation of intensive methods of detection and education of the gifted.

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