Giftedness and Talent in the 21st Century

DON AMBROSE
2. TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY CONTEXTUAL
INFLUENCES ON THE LIFE TRAJECTORIES OF THE
GIFTED AND TALENTED
This chapter represents an attempt to shed more light on the long-term development
of the gifted, talented, and creative by placing that development in a large-scale
context of 21st-century trends, which include macroproblems and macroopportunities.
Macroproblems are high-impact, global, long-term, transdisciplinary
difficulties that threaten to harm or even devastate the lives of billions around the
world (Ambrose, 2009a; Ambrose & Sternberg, 2012; also see Hunter, 1991).
They are global because they span international boundaries and cannot be solved
from within the borders of a single nation. They are long term because they derive
from dogmatic thinking, neglect, and often corruption over years, decades, or
even centuries and, consequently, will take long periods of time to solve. They are
transdisciplinary because no single discipline encompasses sufficient expertise to
address them fully so their solution will require collaboration across disciplines.
Examples of macroproblems include climate change; looming resource shortages;
the erosion of democracy; and severe inequality in a globalized socioeconomic
system increasingly driven by dogmatic, market-fundamentalist ideology. In
contrast, macro-opportunities are unprecedented circumstances that can lead
to significant advances in well-being for billions of individuals and to ethically
guided progress for societies. Examples include powerful new forms of scientific
networking, innovative technologies, and the strengths of diverse minds when
grouped together for complex problem solving.
This analysis emerges from an extensive, interdisciplinary search for theory and
research pertaining to the discovery and development of aspirations and talents within
influential socioeconomic, political, ideological, and cultural contexts. I draw from
significant work in economics, political science, sociology, social epidemiology,
ethical philosophy, history, complexity theory, the environmental sciences,
psychology, creative studies, gifted education, and other disciplines to develop a
metaphorical model representing the impact of 21st-century globalization on the
development of societies, the evolution of education systems, and the life chances of
individuals. After illustrating the structure and dynamics of two different versions of
the model, I describe some of the most impactful 21st-century macroproblems and
macro-opportunities and the demands they are making on our knowledge, skills, and
dispositions.
D. Ambrose & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Giftedness and Talent in the 21st Century, 15–42.
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