Kazimierz Dabrowski
Kazimierz Dabrowski (1902 – 1980), a Polish psychiatrist and psychologist who developed a very useful theory for understanding the emotional development of gifted and talented individuals. Dabrowski studied creatively and intellectually gifted children and adults and found that many displayed an emotional richness, but also experienced inner conflict between the world as it is and the world as they perceived it should be. He maintained that such inner conflict, frequently labelled by the medical profession as psychoneurosis, is part of a developmental process and not a degenerative sign.
Recommended Web Sites:
Caring Thinking: The New Intelligence
http://www.nexus.edu.au/teachstud/gat/brunt.htm
In this article Jan Brunt of the Flinders University of South Australia makes links between Dabrowski's overexcitabilities and Lipman's – author of the Philosophy For Children Program – Caring Thinking.
Sensitivity
http://www.terra.es/personal/asstib/articulos/perso/perso4.htm
A short article by Dr Linda Silverman, an international authority on counselling gifted and talented young people and Director of the Gifted Development Center in Denver, CO (http://www.gifteddevelopment.com). Dr Silverman's approach to counselling the gifted and talented is based on Dabrowski's ideas.
Recommended Books:
Dabrowski, K. (1967). Personality-shaping through positive disintegration. Boston: Little, Brown.
Not easy to get hold of.
Dabrowski, K. (1972). Psychoneurosis is not an illness. London: Gryf.
Not easy to get hold of.
Piechowski, M. M. (1997). Emotional giftedness: The measure of intrapersonal intelligence. In N. Colangelo & G.A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (2nd ed.) (pp.366–381). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Silverman, L. K. (Ed.), (1993). Counseling the gifted and talented. Denver: Love.
This is arguably an 'essential text' in this area and recommended for all those working with gifted and talented students.
Silverman, L. K. (1993). Counseling needs and programs for the gifted. In K. Heller, F. Monks, & A. H. Passow (Eds.), International handbook of research and development of giftedness and talent (pp. 631–647). Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
Relevant Articles:
Advanced Development. Vol. 1, 1989– .
A journal that frequently publishes Dabrowski-oriented articles. Subscription details and information on how to obtain back copies can be found at: http://www.gifteddevelopment.com
Ackerman, C. M. (1997). Identifying gifted adolescents using personality characteristics: Dabrowski's overexcitabilities. Roeper Review, 19(4), 229–36.*
Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted Children Selected Readings for Educators
The ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education (ERIC EC)
This site contains a list of articles related to the social and emotional development of the gifted and talented (not necessarily directly linked to Dabrowski's ideas). Information is provided about how copies of articles may be obtained.
http://ericec.org/minibibs/eb5.html
Gallagher, S. A. (1986). A comparison of the concept of overexcitabilities with measures of creativity and school achievement in 6th grade students. Roeper Review, VIII(2), 115–119.*
Lind, S., & Roeper, A. M. (Eds.). (1998). Perspectives on the self of the gifted [Special issue]. Roeper Review, 20(3).*
Miller, N. B., & Silverman, L. K. (1987). Levels of personality development. Roeper Review, 9(4), 221–225.*
Piechowski, M. M. (1986). The concept of developmental potential. Special Issue: The IQ controversy. Roeper Review, 8(3), 190–197.*
Piechowski, M. M. (1997). Emotional giftedness: An expanded view. APEX: The New Zealand Journal of Gifted Education, 10(1), 37–47).
Silverman, L. K. (1994). The moral sensitivity of gifted children and the evolution of society. Roeper Review, 17(2), 110–16.*
* The journal Roeper Review is held by some New Zealand Universities.