Challenges for Gifted and Talented Students in Hong Kong: Insights from an Asynchronous Development Perspective and Chinese Cultural Values

The possible challenges of gifted and talented students have long been a debated issue and the subject of intensive investigation in the literature on gifted education. Some researchers have highlighted that developmentally advanced students and developmentally delayed students are at the comparable risk of vulnerability and that it is equally challenging to cultivate the development of both groups of students. Other researchers have also suggested that optimal development for gifted children is feasible and sustainable with the support of a concerted effort among parents, teachers, and other relevant professionals. This chapter aims to understand the special needs of gifted and talented students in Hong Kong by (1) taking a child-centred perspective that conceptualises giftedness in terms of asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity interplay to create unique challenges for gifted and talented students and (2) referring to important cultural values with respect to gifted education in the Chinese social and cultural context. Empirical findings on the learning and developmental challenges of gifted and talented individuals will be reviewed. Implications regarding the promotion of optimal development among gifted and talented students will be explored. © 2022 the contributors.