What is Talent Development

The author shares personal reflections on her own talent trajectory and development from childhood to adulthood. Educational background and experiences inform decision-making at every level as a teacher. This chapter attempts to unpack the lessons learned from the experience of a twice-exceptional child put into practice. Learning and reflecting on individual experiences is key to understanding these populations of learners, but not only gifted students can become teachers of the gifted or special populations of gifted learners. Teachers should not ignore research-based best practice in a blind belief in the universal transfer of personal experience for different times, different cultures, and different students. However, through personal reflection, a teacher can approach students from a different angle, hopefully to support them and share those parts of experience that might benefit them. This chapter will focus also on how these insights have shaped the author's work with gifted learners at the high school level, and will discuss commonalities found in action research with her students.