Nurturing the Gifted Female

Joy L. Navan directs the Center for Gifted Studies at Murray State University in Kentucky, where she serves as an associate professor and program director for the graduate endorsement program in gifted and talented education. Navan is a certified practitioner of the Annemarie Roeper Method of Qualitative Assessment (R) and performs assessments in English and Spanish. A teacher for 27 years, Navan spent many of them working with gifted students at the secondary level. During that time, she also served as an adjunct instructor at St. Lawrence University, where she taught a course in the methods of teaching second languages and supervised student teachers. With almost four decades in the field of education, she has developed curriculum and monographs for gifted and general education, and published numerous scholarly articles nationally and internationally. Fluent in Spanish, she initiated and directs an exchange program with gifted American and Spanish students and currently coordinates an online gifted and talented certificate program in Spanish. She served on the Kentucky Advisory Council for Gifted and Talented Education, is a member and past board member of the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education and serves on the board of the Kentucky Odyssey of the Mind. Navan is a member of the National Association for Gifted Children and the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children. She is an active member of Phi Delta Kappa International, an honorary association of professional educators. Navan earned her PhD from the University of Ottawa, Canada, where she studied under Janice Leroux, and assisted her in researching the lives of eminent women.

Foreword Preface Acknowledgments About the Authors 1. Introduction: Gifted Voices 2. Giftedness: A Qualitative Difference 3. The Gifted Female 4. Voice 5. The Resilient Self 6. Autonomy and Affiliation 7. Achieving Efficacy 8. Agency: The Destination 9. Conclusion: A Celebration of the Female Spirit Resources Appendix A: The Voices: Participants on the Journey Appendix B: Learning Log Template References Index

"A nice addition to the literature on gifted youth. It cites a growing concern over the disengagement of young gifted girls and offers realistic strategies to support and nurture them throughout their educational career." -- Richard M. Cash, Director of Gifted and Talented Programs "The examples through stories are a major strength. I hope this book inspires teachers to see the giftedness in all children, nurture their voices, and help them develop to their fullest potential." -- Rosemary Traore, Assistant Professor "Navan's insightful description and analysis of giftedness provides those of us who teach, mentor, and parent girls and young women with a road map to recognize and support their achievement and development. The stories, which describe girls and young women from a variety of backgrounds, are a pleasure to read." -- Renee Campoy, Interim Assistant Dean