Development of the system of support for gifted children in the USSR and in Russia: Directions and prospects

The article examines the work with gifted children in Russia within the context of the historical development of the Russian education system. The aim of the research is to identify the characteristics, directions, and prospects for working with gifted children in Russia within the framework of extensive and intensive development paths. The research involved exploring legislative acts, projects related to working with children, pedagogical papers on the issue of giftedness; methods of analysis and generalization were applied. The scientific novelty of the research lies in predicting possible directions for the development of the Olympiad system, considering its system-forming function. As a result, it can be said that after the collapse of the USSR, the Russian system of additional education has outlined a vector of transition from an extensive to an intensive approach in working with gifted children through regional centers for identifying and supporting such children. At the same time, the system of working with gifted children retains its historical characteristics of an extensive approach in all directions, while the scale of working with gifted children increases: (1) in the Olympiad system, (2) in additional education, and also (3) in the in-depth study of subjects in general education institutions for gifted children. Among the possible directions and prospects are the improvement of the “triangle” of support for gifted children (Olympiads – schools – additional education) in the humanities, for example, by clarifying the status of general education organizations with in-depth study of socio-humanitarian subjects in relation to working with gifted children and realizing the possibilities of a variable nature of the current Olympiad system, which allows children to demonstrate their giftedness in a wide range of activities and academic subjects.