Rising Tides and Racing Torpedoes: Triumphs and Tribulations of the Adult Gifted as Illustrated by the Career of Joseph Renzulli

Abstract

Joseph Renzull's essay highlighting his major programmatic work of the past 25 years tells us far more about the real guts of giftedness than does any IQ score or any test score or set of scores at all. In his essay, Renzulli distinguishes between “schoolhouse giftedness” and “creative productive giftedness.” I do not know how Renzulli did in the schoolhouse, but I do know that he serves as an outstanding model of the kind of creative productive giftedness he discusses. But what actually goes into the creative-potential circle of Renzulli's (1978, 1986) Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness? Renzulli's essay tells us much in answer to this question, as could any autobiographical essay. The goal of this response will be to use Renzulli's essay as a case study of the components of creative productive giftedness. The framework I will use is that provided by our own investment theory of creativity (Sternberg & Lubart, 1995, 1996), although doubtless other models could be used as well.

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