©1998 A B Academic Publishers

accountability: valued elements in maximising human potential* Teachers and parents involved with gifted and talented programming disseminate something which carries with it a great need for resourcefulness and initiative, that of distributing roles and responsibilities within a given organisation. This process of allotting responsibility, giving room for individual initiative and resourcefulness in carrying out that responsibility, and ultimately requesting accountability for what has been accomplished is referred to as stewardship. The princi-ple of stewardship functions on all levels in a heirarchy of leadership. An effective leader once suggested a leadership procedure for one who has supervision or direction over others ' lives: "Teach them correct principles, and then they govern themselves." Based on this perspective Five Stewardship Principles suggest a practical process by which lead-ers may effectively handle their own stewardships and effectively guide those who work under them in fulfiling their stewardships as well