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Hébert

A book written by University of Georgia College of Education professor Thomas Hébert has won a prestigious national award from a Texas gifted education group.

Understanding the Social and Emotional Lives of Gifted Students (Prufrock Press 2011) received the 2011 Legacy Award from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented, the nation’s largest state advocacy group of its kind.

Hébert, a professor of educational psychology, is a nationally recognized leader in gifted education. He teaches graduate courses in gifted and creative education, and qualitative research methods. His research focuses on social and emotional development of gifted students, underachievement in high-ability students, culturally diverse gifted students, and problems faced by gifted young men.

Hébert has more than a decade of classroom experience working with K-12 gifted students and almost 20 years in higher education training graduate students and educators.

The book presents a comprehensive treatment of social and emotional development in high-ability learners. He discusses theories that guide an examination of the lived experiences of gifted students; social and emotional characteristics and behaviors evidenced in gifted learners; friendships and family relationships that support them; contextual influences that shape their social and emotional lives; and identity development. Moreover, Hébert examines the complexity of these issues with gifted underachievers, gifted culturally diverse students, and twice-exceptional students. In addition, the book offers a plan for designing a gifted-friendly classroom environment for social and emotional development and a comprehensive collection of resources to support professionals in gifted education research and practice.

As a result, the book combines theory that drives our understanding of gifted students with the latest research and practical strategies to implement in addressing social and emotional development with K-12 students. The book is geared toward graduate students with research interests in this area and educators with questions regarding how to support gifted young people in their classrooms.

The Legacy Book Awards honor outstanding books published in the United States that have long-term potential for positively influencing the lives of gifted children and/or youth and contribute to the understanding, well-being, education, and success of students with gifts and/or talents.  The winning books are selected by a nationwide panel of reviewers and are categorized by audience: Parents, Educators, and Scholars. Hébert’s book won in the Scholar category.

Hébert, who received the 2008 Outstanding Alumni Research Award from the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education and the 2008 Mary Frasier Equity and Excellence Award from the Georgia Association for Gifted Children, joined the UGA faculty in 1997.