Cultural perspectives on talent development and parenting

This manuscript-style dissertation presents four essays that provide theoretical and empirical insights on a systematic theme of cultural perspectives on talent development and parenting. Topics addressed include Western and Chinese perspectives on concepts of giftedness and talented performance, cultural issues related to nature and nurture, and parenting influence on talent development.; The first essay reviews both Western and Chinese literature on giftedness and introduces a preliminary Chinese model of talented performance. One important feature to emerge from the literature is a de-emphasis on giftedness as an innate ability and an emphasis on the concept of talented performance from the Chinese perspective. Such a finding is congruent with a Confucian cultural outlook that encourages effort rather than the identification of giftedness, which is a focus of the next paper. The second essay presents a reflective review of Confucian philosophy on learning and achieving, examines its influence in China and other Asian countries, and discusses its implications for the education of gifted and talented children.; The third essay explores the influence of parenting beliefs and practices on children's talent development through a specific perspective of Chinese American families with gifted children. Research questions focused on parents' beliefs and practices concerning how to nurture high achievement among children. Findings of this study include evidence of a sense of responsibility for parenting, a high level of confidence about children's future, and a mixed strategy of parenting which combines traditional Chinese practice and adopted Western ideas of parenting. The last essay investigates parenting beliefs and practices of a small group of individuals who have achieved an extreme level of talented performance: winning a Nobel Prize. Analysis of the interviews revealed that these Nobel laureates have common as well as unique experiences and beliefs about parenting, which may provide valuable information and implications on how to better help the young population achieve talented performance.; A summary of the four essays with a focus on the links between the topics among these essays will be presented at the end of the dissertation.