The Self-awareness in gifted students: a phenomenological-semiotic study

Abstract The present study aimed to describe how talented students perceive their talent, focusing on the reflexive modes that characterize their self-awareness. Seven students, aged 11 to 13 years, previously identified with intellectual giftedness and talent, answered a semi-structured interview and the data obtained were analyzed qualitatively through the phenomenological-semiotic method. The results revealed six themes in the perception of talented: talent awareness; liking, thinking and choosing; tension and self-breeding; challenges; talking to himself; and future. The discussion suggests that developing one's own skill involves frustrations, challenges and possible difficulties for the talented student. However, persistence is a common feature of his conscious reflexivity, appearing related to the pursuit of success and to the planning and implementation of strategies to achieve it. In conclusion, the relationship between the self-reflection and self-trapping characteristics of gifted students and their different problem-solving strategies is discussed.