Introduction. The relevance of investigating mentoring as a factor enhancing the development of gifted children within the educational environment is determined by the socio-economic need of society to prepare talented young people to solve important tasks in increasingly complex socio-cultural conditions. Despite a significant number of mentoring studies, they are not specific about activities with gifted children in education. At the same time, analytical developments and theoretical studies of giftedness in Russian and international psychological and pedagogical sources make it possible to identify the specifics of educational mentoring of gifted children, if we consider their development within the educational environment as an object of mentoring activities. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of mentoring as a factor enhancing the development of gifted children within the educational environment.
Materials and Methods. This research is theoretical in nature and includes a comparative analysis of a range of mentoring theories as well as theories of child giftedness in the context of the implementation of: a socio-cultural approach that allows us to consider psychological and educational phenomena in modern conditions of changing requirements and social dynamics; an axiological approach that emphasizes the significant values of education, taking into account the special status of support for gifted children; a cross-cultural approach that allows to correlate Russian and international mentoring concepts.
Results. The author examines the phenomenon of mentoring, taking into account the analysis of the state educational policy of the Russian Federation in recent years, as well as various Russian and international psychological and educational approaches to understanding the essence and practical implementation of mentoring to support and ensure the most favorable conditions for the development, education and socialization of gifted children. This paper analyzes mentoring as a socio-historical phenomenon and a special form of educational activity aimed at establishing trusting relationships with students and allowing them to effectively solve problems of overcoming difficulties of socialization in order to achieve high results based on self-fulfillment of students. The development of gifted children in the educational environment is defined as the object of mentoring activities. The essence of mentoring is revealed in the context of historical and etymological analysis. International models of mentoring in the theory and practice of education are described. The article substantiates the individualization of mentoring within education in the aspect of the moral development of gifted children. The principles of educational mentoring of gifted children within the educational environment are highlighted. The difficulties of implementing mentoring in Russian education are described.
Conclusions. The characteristic features of educational mentoring as a factor enhancing the development of gifted children within the educational environment are determined by: on the one hand, the object of its orientation; on the other hand, by the specifics of teaching and learning. They include the following distinctive features: trusting relationships between the mentor and the student, involving delicate interaction that determines a comfortable psychological state to ensure timely support and assistance; implementation of priority strategies related to the development, assimilation of knowledge and the formation of competencies: academic acceleration and enrichment of curricula to ensure favorable conditions for the development of gifted children within the teaching and learning processes; elimination of formalization in the organization of activities and relationships; overcoming crises of child giftedness and typical difficulties of self-fulfillment in creative activities based on understanding the nature of the heterochronic development of talented children; implementation of the principles of axiology, variability, and learner-centeredness as the main and priority principles for working with gifted children in the educational environment.