Dazzled and Frazzled's End of Year Review

Although 2010 didn’t herald any great advancement of gifted education in Ireland, it was a watershed year for Dazzled and Frazzled! 2010 marked the year when we found our way to be a voice for gifted learners in Ireland. In January we took part in the inaugural #gtchat on Twitter. Guided by the wonderfully innovative and energetic Deborah Mersino, #gtchat has grown from enthusiastic beginnings into a strong global platform through which parents, teachers, psychologists and gifted education experts can share vision and strategy for gifted children. It was a privilege to have been there at the very first chat!

Through #gtchat, Frazzled and I realised that we have a wealth of knowledge between us about giftedness. There are many respected experts among #gtchatters, and many more passionate and well-informed amateurs like the pair of us. We all have a common goal though; to promote awareness of the educational needs of gifted learners everywhere.  On Friday nights we have felt welcomed and validated by the many professionals working across the globe. This has given us the courage to speak up through our blog about issues of particular relevance to Ireland.

It took us a while to get the blog up and running. In July, we hid ourselves away for a few days in “La France profonde” where we shared ideas about what shape our blog might take. We declared our “2nd Annual Conference” in south-west France a thorough success, in particular the entertainment and wine-tasting! One of the stand-out moments was sitting at the patio table, wine and cheese at the ready, laptops opposite each other all set to go for #gtchat...surreal but fun!

By the end of July and into August we had our first blogposts up and soon our opinions on a wide range of issues were getting an airing. Both opinionated and forceful at times, it was a nerve-wracking first few weeks as we nailed our gifted colours to the mast! We held our breath and hoped we wouldn’t be dismissed as being too radical, too clueless, or worst of all...just a couple of pushy parents! We needn’t have worried however, as our #gtchat friends supported and encouraged us as we posted each new piece. Thank you all for your support in 2010, it meant a great deal to us both.
 

In October another big opportunity came our way. We were invited to speak at the Irish Teaching and Learning Festival in Dublin. We gave a presentation entitled “Using Social Media to Support Gifted Learners in Ireland”. Bedecked in our regal purple #gtchat t-shirts kindly fast-tracked to us by Deborah Mersino, we completed our metamorphosis into conference speakers together. In equal parts thrilling and terrifying, by the end we were exhilarated and enjoying our new-found confidence! The realisation that we do have something to offer to those interested in giftedness was empowering and encouraging. We are not experts and do not pretend to be so, but are happy to share the knowledge we have gained through our own research. A big debt of thanks is due to Deborah who had faith in us to fly the #gtchat flag on her behalf. We were honoured to do so.

In November our Gifted Advocacy and Support (GAS) group made a detailed submission to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) during their consultation process for the new Junior Cycle. Although quite a radical departure from the traditional exam-based system, we felt that a fresh approach catering to as many different learning styles as possible would be a real benefit to our gifted learners in particular.

The end of 2010 has seen us making new connections from within and without our GAS group. There are some exciting new ideas ahead in 2011 and a team seems to be forming which will hopefully make some progress in raising awareness of the needs of gifted children in Ireland. Frazzled and I are looking forward to being a part of this new initiative. We would like to thank our families for their support, encouragement and patience as we got the blog off the blocks. We wish all our friends, #gtchatters, fellow bloggers, support group members and future readers a very Happy New Year in 2011!

A Vision for a New Irish Junior Cycle

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has nearly completed  a consultation process on ideas for a revised Junior Cycle for our secondary schools. Our GAS group discussed this process at our recent meetings and after many pots of tea and cups of coffee, decided that we would make a submission on behalf of our group of gifted learners in Ireland. Many of our members have young children in the early years of  primary school and for them the Junior Certificate seems a long way off. As we know however, change takes a while to happen, so it may very well be those children who see the benefit of comprehensive educational reform.

Our idea is that the Junior Cycle would move away from the traditional but narrow examination format to a flexible programme which would give our young people responsibility for their learning and its outcomes. We have called it the Junior Cycle Portfolio. In short, it would consist of a personal learning portfolio prepared and produced by each student in the early secondary years . In addition to exam results from school, it would include multiple ways that students could show mastery, achievement and interest in the curriculum. Participation, accomplishment and effort would all combine to demonstrate the skills learned by each student. Using this approach, every pupil would reach the end of the Junior Cycle with a foundation in the key skills needed for 21st Century learning.

We feel that this approach may be of particular benefit to both Exceptionally Able and Twice Exceptional students in Ireland. Our gifted learners are not well served by the current exam-based system, either in its pace or content. When they want to move deeper and faster with the material there is often no opportunity to do so. For Twice Exceptional students it is sometimes also a challenge to demonstrate ability in ways rewarded by our educational system. If our gifted pupils could work with a portfolio system they would be able to add breadth, depth and pace to their learning. Using their personal learning strengths, they would be able to achieve at a level commensurate with their ability. Many of Ireland’s exceptionally able learners go unidentified by their schools and unnoticed by their teachers because they have no opportunity to demonstrate what they could learn, as opposed to what is on the curriculum. The Junior Cycle Portfolio would give them the chance to take ownership of their learning and bring their areas of strength into sharper relief.

You can read our Submission below:

Creating a Learning Revolution

Dazzled and I were at a very interesting café workshop in Dublin this evening. The invitation from Design 21C was to “ join us in a discussion to explore how we learn and what steps we can make to bring about a learning revolution to transform education in Ireland.” Needless to say, we could not resist!

I went in not knowing what to expect and, as usual, felt a little awkward in referring to gifted education. You know that feeling that people will think “oh, for God’s sake, would you listen to yer wan in her ivory tower”? However, a very diverse group of us spent three hours talking about education and it could have been a room full of gifted advocates talking! Amongst many other things, ideas raised were: 

• Making room for failure and the value of learning by failing.
• Learning how to deal with failure and to see it as an opportunity.
• Learning how to take risks.
• Learning how to learn.
• Learning as a lifelong skill.
• Creative thinking skills.
• Problem solving ability.
• Why do we put children through our system in lockstep by age?
• Recognising different learning styles and strengths.
• Moving from the sage-on-the-stage model of teaching to a guide-on-the-side, where teachers are facilitators of learning.
• Moving from rote learning to learning by doing and experiencing.
• Project based learning.
• Reforming teacher training.
• Learning life skills such as how to interact with others positively.
• Learning to feel comfortable with yourself.

Any of this ring bells with you gifted advocates?!! Are these not exactly the things which we are looking for in gifted education? Are many of these not precisely what a good G&T programme offers?

It has been obvious to me for a long time that all the things which we seek for our gifted children would benefit all children. More and more, the rest of the world is looking for the same as we are. Surely this is a huge opportunity for us. If we could achieve a new model of education based on some of the ideas above, would we not have achieved a great deal? By joining with others in the call for general education reform, we have far more chance of being heard than if we fight alone for gifted children only. By joining forces, we also have an opportunity to overcome some of the negative myths that surround giftedness, such as that gifted means mini-Einsteins who breeze through school with no difficulty or effort and have pushy middle-class parents. It would not, however, be a one way street. Much of our collective experience would be of great benefit to others in this endeavour and many gifted advocates have just the skills needed to inspire and lead others.

I absolutely accept that there is a significant cohort of gifted children who are so far to the right of the bellcurve that, just like those to the left, they probably cannot be provided for adequately in mainstream education. However, I also believe that a new model could accommodate a large number of gifted children very well. The advantages of such a model for gifted children would be many. They would be provided with challenges and opportunities to learn appropriate to their ability. Gifted children from all socio-economic backgrounds would be able to shine and be appreciated, not just the ones whose parents are well educated and able to fight for them and support them or send them to expensive schools.  All children should be engaged and excited to be learning, so gifted children would not feel so out of step and isolated. If we got it right, the benefits for society as a whole would be enormous. In order for this to work, we absolutely must be part of the dialogue.

While I believe that we should join the movement for general education reform, we do need to keep our eye on the gifted ball too. Gifted children have a particular set of needs which is not shared by others and which needs to be recognized and addressed. No one else will do this if we don’t. This is our role as gifted advocates.

I must also say that it struck me that many of the people at this meeting tonight were there because they love learning, are full of ideas and opinions, are passionate, want to make a difference to society and probably consisted of a disproportionate number of gifted individuals, even if they didn’t know it themselves!

After all that excitement, I'm not sure I'll be able to deal with a #gtchat at midnight. My head is in such a buzz already and I can see that the first of today's sessions was lively. No sleep for me tonight , I fear!

Bright Young Things, Growing Up Gifted In Ireland

Last night RTE aired a documentary following six gifted children as they negotiated the Irish education system. Bright Young Things; Growing Up Gifted in Ireland. To be perfectly honest, I am not sure how I feel about it. I do think it portrayed a more realistic picture of the lives of gifted children than some documentaries which have tended to sensationalise the issue and make these children out to be "geniuses".

I liked the way that, just as in real life, it included children from very different backgrounds and with very different stories; not all middle class with pushy parents. I liked that Gavin didn't get straight A's in his Junior Certificate. Sorry Gavin, it's nothing personal, but it countered the myth that gifted students always get A's with no effort whatsoever! It showed very well, the sense of difference and sometimes loneliness that gifted children can feel from a very young age. I have heard it said that it came across as a little bleak, but at least it showed that the life of a gifted child is not necessarily plain sailing. It also showed that gifted children are far from being a homogeneous bunch. Not all gifted children are like the ones portrayed in the documentary, but many gifted children struggle in their own way with similar issues.

It is very easy for viewers to pick holes and criticise both the programme-makers and the families concerned. However, many of us complain that no one understands us and the problems we encounter. We talk about how gifted children and adults are different. So, when someone does a documentary about us, we can hardly complain about how it showed the participants to be somehow unusual, now can we? Let's face it, we do tend to be a little different. Sure isn't that the whole point?!

How many of us would have subjected ourselves and our children to the same level of scrutiny? You may say that this was unfair on the children concerned, but at the same time, if we all continue to hide away under the guise of protecting our children, then how can we expect people to understand us? It's a very tricky dilemma and I'm not sure I know the answer. I do feel, however, that we owe the families who did participate a great debt of thanks. They were very brave to put themselves out there for all the world to see and comment upon.

It is impossible for a fifty minute documentary to cover the issue of giftedness in its entirety and I feel that, on balance, this one did a pretty good job. It certainly went some way to busting some of the myths about gifted children. I would like to say well done to all concerned and to wish all the participants the very best as they continue their journeys.

Dr Colm O'Reilly of CTYI was spot on when he said:

"We tend to have the attitude of "well, sure it'll all work out in the end". For a lot of them, it doesn't work out in the end and they end up underachieving greatly, and what do we say then? "Well, they weren't that smart to begin with". I can't agree with that. The reason they underachieve is because we never did anything for them in the first place, to allow them to fulfill their potential"

May 2011: The documentary is available on the RTE Player again for a while.

Purpose and Passion Part 2

Teachers With Passion

We all know that our teachers can pass through their entire basic training without ever hearing about gifted education at all. Once out, they are faced with classes of maybe thirty students of wide-ranging ability and a good sprinkling of various learning and behavioural difficulties. How they deal with all this on top of getting our children through the curriculum to our satisfaction is, quite frankly, a miracle. When it comes to CPD, given that only 3% to 5% of children are gifted, I wouldn't imagine that gifted is too high up their priority list. Why would it be?

However, through Twitter, Dazzled and I have discovered a whole world of teachers with passion. These teachers are tweeting and blogging their hearts out. There are a few things which have struck me about them: they are engaging with each other to collaborate and share ideas, they are incredibly generous, they are innovative and open to new ideas. Most importantly, they very obviously LOVE what they do. Sometimes I sign into Twitter just to catch some of their infectious enthusiasm! I can only imagine what it must be like to be a student in one of their classrooms.

Whilst there are many teachers globally who are gifted and talented education specialists, I think most of the Irish ones are not. They probably have little idea about the niceties of gifted education theory. But, you know what? It doesn't matter. They are already well on the way to doing what our children need. They must surely be inspiring their students to love learning, just like they do. They are open to new ideas and that is where I feel parents have a role to play.

Unlike these teachers who must deal with every possible learning scenario, parents of gifted children have the luxury, if you will, of being able to focus on gifted issues alone. Given that it often seems to run in families, many parents of gifted children are themselves gifted. Which means that they tend to go at things which interest them with gusto and to learn quickly. Many are extremely well-informed when it comes to gifted education and psychology. However, what most of us don't have is training in education and knowledge of what happens or what works in our children's classrooms. 

It strikes me that if we could all work together, we could really make progress. For that to happen, parents must be prepared to speak up, but in a supportive and encouraging way. Teachers must accept that, whilst they are the educational professionals, parents sometimes have more knowledge in a particular field that they do. Sometimes parents can come across as pushy and critical and sometimes they are just that. But often, they are just frustrated.

In terms of provision for gifted education in Ireland, we have draft guidelines from the NCCA and the SESS has resources and a pilot project, Equality of Challenge. So, progress is being made and some groundwork has been done. However, in reality for the vast majority of us, nothing is happening. I propose that we stop waiting around for change and we just get on with it by connecting with each other and working together.

Twitter is a great place for this to begin. As one teacher commented: "For me Twitter is like the biggest staffroom in the world. Full of wonderful, inspirational, helpful people". Here is a tiny example of what our teachers are up to:

@HumphreyJones is a science teacher in St Columbas College in Dublin. He also has a blog. 

@TheFrogBlog is the science department of St Columba's  and has an award-winning blog, The Frog Blog.

@sccenglish is the English department of St Columba's has a fantastic English blog.

@physicsteacher, Noel Cunningham from King's Hospital School, has a superb physics blog: thinkforyourself.ie

@simonmlewis, Simon Lewis, is the Principal of Carlow Educate Together NS. He runs two sites which are fantastic resources for primary school teachers:  anseo.net and mash.ie.

If you ever need proof that Ireland has teachers with passion, check these guys out. I was completely blown away by how they tweeted and blogged all summer long...we even had some tweets from France! (Not sure how that went down with their wives...)

We all have so much to learn from each other. Through social media tools like Twitter and blogs, we have an opportunity like never before to really engage and collaborate; to dispel the myths and false ideas we have about each other. We all want the same thing: to support and encourage our children as they negotiate their way through our education system into adulthood. We need to support and encourage each other too.

Purpose and Passion Part 1

Parents With Purpose

Yes, it’s true that in Ireland we have no gifted and talented programmes in our schools or even a national advocacy organisation. Our teachers receive little or no training in gifted education during their basic training. No, we don’t have the likes of James Webb, SENG or the NAGC. Yes, when you go looking for information and resources on all things gifted, you generally end up with something produced in the USA, or maybe Australia or the UK.

We have a choice. We can whinge and moan and wait for things to change, or we can get up off our arses and make that change happen. Please don’t say that you don’t have the time, the skills, the personality…or whatever excuse you fancy. 

In February 2008, a speaker at the CTYI conference, “Understanding Gifted Education”, at DCU had to abandon her lecture and just answer questions from parents. One parent, Margaret Keane, came away with the message that parents were hungry for information but had nowhere to turn. She could have joined the whinging, but she decided to set up a website instead. Now, granted, she did have the training and skill to do that. However, through many hours of hard work and dedication, she has seen her site grow to become a fantastic resource to which parents and teachers can turn for information regarding gifted children: www.Giftedkids.ie

Dazzled and I met through the discussion forum on the Giftedkids.ie website where we were moderators. In May of 2009, we decided that if we wanted a support group in our area, then we would just have to start one ourselves. We picked a date and a venue, announced it on the Giftedkids.ie forum and we had 6 people at our first meeting.

That summer, in response to the invitation from the Government’s Innovation Taskforce we wrote a submission highlighting the need for provision for gifted students in our education system. However, with the demise of the Irish Association for Gifted Children, we found we had no platform from which to deliver it. In the end, we submitted it on behalf of our support group, but we swore we would never find ourselves in that position again. So, we turned out support group into a Gifted Advocacy and Support group: GAS. Now, we can make submissions and representations on behalf of parents in the South Dublin/Wicklow area. Our group has grown steadily over the past year and we now have a cohesive core group who are working on advocacy projects together.

One year ago, neither if us had more than very basic computer skills. We could manage emails and web searching, but that was about it. Now we are regulars on Twitter, we administer a google group and a google website for GAS and we have this blog and a facebook page. Most recently, we made our first foray into public speaking at the Irish Teaching and Learning Festival in Dublin.

There are other individuals out there doing their bit. One example is Leslie Graves. Like us, she is a mother of gifted children with a passion to make a difference. Over the years, she has developed a wealth of knowledge which she passes on through public speaking and now also a blog. On behalf of the IAGC, before it was dissolved, she contributed to the NCCA draft guidelines for gifted education and was elected to the WCGTC.

Some of us, through determination to understand the issues, have certificates or diplomas gained through distance learning programmes, but none  of us has a teaching degree or can claim to be a professional or registered teacher. What we do have is years of experience raising gifted children within the Irish education system. We all have extensive knowledge gleaned from reading, studying and attending conferences. The parents of most gifted children could claim the same.  If more of us step up to the plate, together we can really make a difference.

We would love to see other support groups such as ours spring up around the country. Imagine the impact if we had a GAS network. With the age of social networking, geography is no longer a barrier. The united voice of many will always be more powerful than the individual, so it is important that we all support and encourage each other. We each have different skills and strengths and may take different paths but we must always guard against falling into the trap of becoming focused on ourselves and losing sight of the goal. Our sole agenda must be to support our children and we can only do that by working together as a unified force for advocacy.

Gifted in Force at Irish Education Festival

 Irish Teaching and Learning Festival

Dazzled and Frazzled
The much anticipated Irish Teaching and Learning Festival is over. Dazzled and Frazzled made their public speaking debut and survived! Many thanks to all our old friends who came to support us and to all the new ones we made.

Leslie Graves

It was remarkable to see so much reference made to gifted students at an Irish education conference. Leslie Graves (@Leslinks), Theo Lynn (@TheoLynn), Margaret Keane (@Giftedkidsie) & James Corbett (@Daynuv) and of course Karen McCarthy (@Dazzlld) & Catherine Riordan (@Frazzlld) all spoke specifically about gifted students. This is progress indeed, in a very short space of time.

Also present were Colm O’Reilly, Catriona Fitzgerald and Eleanor Cooke of CTYI (@CTYI2) and other regular participants at #gtchat. Anyone notice a pattern?

It seems that Twitter is bringing us all together. As you can see, even Deborah Mersino made an appearance! Following our presentation which included a step-by-step guide to Twitter and #gtchat, we hope that we will see even more Irish participants at #gtchat in the coming weeks. Watch out world!

And hopefully next Friday at midnight, Dazzled and I won’t be all dressed up with no #gtchat to go to!

Gifted Success or Failure?

There have been several recent newspaper articles in the UK press about gifted adults and whether they achieved the potential they demonstrated as children. They were written as a result of the publication of Professor Joan Freeman’s latest book “Gifted Lives: What Happens When Gifted Children Grow Up”. I haven’t read this book, but I have read her previous one on the same subject. The media take was fairly predictable...the headlines on the articles read “Gifted Children Are Failures” and “From child prodigy to adult despair” (The Sunday Times), “Why gifted children are just as likely to fail in life” (The Mail online), “Why do gifted children fail?” (The Guardian online) and “Child geniuses ‘fail to meet expectations’ “ (The Telegraph online).

So many things about the headlines, the articles and the reporting of Professor Freeman’s research findings made me uncomfortable, but the one that kept surfacing relentlessly was the notion of “failure”. What is failure? My Concise Oxford Dictionary defines failure as “lack of success; unsuccessful person, thing or attempt” while online versions use “lack of success in doing or achieving something, a person or thing that is not successful”. So, if failure is a lack of success, what then, is success? Is the accountant who really wishes she were a farmer a success at being an accountant, or a failure at being a farmer? Is the student who dropped out of his law course to switch to microbiology a failed solicitor? Who judges the level of success of somebody? Themselves or others? When we speak of gifted children is their “potential” the important thing? Or their person? Is giftedness to be something or to become something?

One of the “gifted failures” referenced in the press is a young man called Andrew Halliburton who, after studying A-level maths at the age of 11, now works in McDonald’s. He is 23, and going back to university in September to study computer game technology having dropped out in his late teens. How is this young man a failure? He is 23 years old! He has his whole life ahead of him, with plenty of time to reach the goals he sets for himself. Why do the media set expectations for those for whom they have no right to set expectations? Why do parents, teachers or even psychology professors do so? We have seen it again and again when giftedness is covered by the media. Gifted children are set up to “fail”. Their “potential” is discussed as if they are a commodity in the future jobs market. They are spoken of as future doctors, scientists, entrepreneurs, leaders. Then, when they don’t become what journalists, psychologists, teachers or parents imagined they would, they are labelled failures. We need to examine how we view our gifted young people’s futures and be careful about burdening them with our dreams without asking them first what theirs are. We gifted advocates debate endlessly the merits or otherwise of using the label of “gifted”. Do we then accept that the word “failure” is bandied about by psychologists and journalists when these children do not meet some artificial criterion of success that someone else has set for them? As an advocate for gifted learners, I don’t and I won’t.

In the Times article, Professor Freeman is quoted as saying that Jocelyn Lavin who gave up a promising career in music to pursue maths and science “made the wrong decision” because, after a recent career change from teacher to freelance music arranger, Ms Lavin finds herself struggling financially and in danger of losing her home. While most people would agree that not having a certain financial security in your forties is an uncomfortable place to be, who is to judge whether Ms. Lavin made the right career decision as a teenager except herself? Her decision to follow her love of science and mathematics rather than a career in music performance may or may not have led her to financial difficulties today. To many “what if's?” obscure the real reasons behind people's life decisions. Gifted children and adults are no different in this regard, and no more immune from making mistakes than anyone else. They should not be held to a different standard based on a measurement of their academic potential as a child.

The Concise Oxford definition of success is; “accomplishment of what was aimed at, attainment of wealth or fame or position” and online versions go with “the fact that you have achieved something that you want and have been trying to do or get; the fact of becoming rich or famous or of getting a high social position”. It cannot be just me who thinks that this definition is shallow and ill-suited to describe the many ways that people, gifted or not, can contribute as full and active citizens?

Presentation on Supporting Gifted Learners in Ireland

 Using Social Media to Support Gifted Learners in Ireland 

Irish Teaching and Learning Festival

Citywest Conference Centre

12pm 

Saturday 16th October

Until relatively recently, we were both complete cyberspace novices. We could manage email and google searching, but the mere mention of a google group brought on palpitations. However, we decided to face our fear and take the plunge.  Over time, by just trying things out for ourselves, we have come to grips with tools which have opened up a whole new world of support and collaboration to us. We now regularly interact with other parents, teachers and experts in gifted education from all around the globe to share ideas and resources. 

For those of you already comfortable with social media, we hope to direct you towards the best resources for supporting gifted students and to encourage you to join our growing community. For those who have yet to try it out, we hope that our presentation will prove that you don’t need any technical know-how or special skills to use these tools. All you need is internet access, an open mind and a little time. Let’s face it, there are thousands of twits on twitter. If they can do it, so can you!

For further details and links to the Festival, please read our previous post below.

Irish Teaching and Learning Festival

        Citywest Conference Centre

    Friday 15^th and Saturday 16^th October

"The Irish Teaching and Learning Festival is Ireland’s first interactive conference and exhibition focused on the future of education in Ireland.

This exhibition will deliver a unique opportunity for teachers, principals, policy makers, boards of management and parents from all over the country. The conference will feature keynote speakers such as Lord David Puttnam. There will be practical workshops and live teaching and learning demonstrations.

The exhibition will feature over 80 exhibitors showcasing a wide range of teaching and learning resources for the 21^st Century. There will be a festival guide and festival bag filled with information and resources for every delegate attending the festival.

The festival is free to all who register to attend and delegates will have an unrivalled opportunity to bring back to their school, new ideas and new educational developments."

Amongst several interesting sessions, there will be three devoted to gifted students, which you may like to register for:

• Using Social Media to Support Gifted Learners in Ireland: Karen McCarthy & Catherine Riordan
• Giftedkids.ie/Daynuv Virtual World Primary Project: Margaret Keane & James Corbett
• Challenging Times and Meeting the Needs of Exceptionally Able Students: Leslie Graves                 
  • •                                                                                                                    

To find out more, visit the ITLFestival website

To view the programme, click here.

For a registration form, click here.

For more detail on Dazzled and Frazzled's presentation, hold tight for the part 2.....

Gifted Children and the Goal of Intellect

One of my children’s schools has a set of five educational Goals which they share with a network of schools across the world. The Goals form a mission statement of sorts, of how the school will guide its students to become full and active citizens. Each year one Goal is given special attention, and the school and students work to reinforce the principles within it. This year’s Goal is Intellect, so last week they launched the year with a non-uniform day on the theme. The children were allowed to dress up as anything that represented Intellect to them. The day was a great success and the children enjoyed using their imaginations to come up with interesting costumes and outfits. Among the mini-barristers and doctors, tennis professionals, Einsteins and Harry Potters an almost inevitable theme appeared.

A large number of children were dressed up as (in their own words) “nerds” or “geeks”, complete with oversized glasses and decidedly unfashionable clothes, hair and shoes. This didn’t surprise me, but it certainly disappointed me. In an event meant to show children how we should celebrate intellectual values, many of them had already internalised the message that being clever is a negative trait which invites ridicule from others. How can we expect gifted children to demonstrate their intellect in school when the prevailing attitude of their classmates is that being intelligent is to be doomed socially? I really hope that the school was able to use the costumes and what they represented as a “teachable moment”. If they missed their opportunity, I guess it becomes mine!

A Pep Talk for Gifted Advocates

Whilst plugged in to Twitter yesterday, I came across a blogpost by Seth Godin, which has played over and over in my mind.

In it, he says that rather than accept rejection of our ideas as defeat, the question we need to ask ourselves is: “what about the world as it is would have to change for your idea to be important?”

For those of us who advocate on behalf of gifted children, this is advice which we should take to heart. It is easy to feel deflated and frustrated in the face of a seeming lack of progress.

Next time someone scoffs at your suggestion, think of yourself as Harry Potter and carry on regardless. Through social networking, gifted advocates around the world are finding each other and I believe that together we can change the world!

Now, for that pep talk to get you going, take a read of Seth's blogpost, Interpreting Criticism. 

"Can creativity be taught?" asks #gtchat

Somewhere between the glorious moment a baby first plunges her hands into her dinner bowl and redecorates her surroundings and the somewhat flexible dawning of adult maturity, most of us lose the joy of unselfconscious creativity. Lose is probably too strong a term, perhaps misplace would be more accurate. We laugh at the “boldness” of our toddlers when they squeeze all the toothpaste out of the tube all over the bathroom floor. We share the fun of making mud pies, finger-painting and creating horns and beards with bath-bubbles. Then, as the years pass, they slowly get less “messy”, slowly start to use things for their proper purpose, slowly learn to colour within the lines. So, this week’s #gtchat topic “Can creativity be taught? How to inspire flow/growth” could well be renamed “Can creativity be relearned? How to re-discover our creative flow”

We all know people we consider creatively gifted; writers, artists, designers, musicians or architects, and we often compare ourselves unfavourably with them. We can’t all be like Louis Le Broquy or Imelda May or Seamus Heaney, who each have a creative talent which sets them far apart from the rest of us. But perhaps we could become more connected with our own creativity. If a task requires creativity,  perhaps we can learn how we tapped into our creative flow and shake off the conventions we have learned from infancy. Orna Ross has an interesting piece on her website about creative intelligence and how we might learn to re-ignite the spark.

For our children, the journey back is shorter, if educators and parents let them travel it. Teachers have a large part to play here. One of my sons, at age 8, wanted to enter a drawing he had done in school for an art competition. It was a pencil drawing of a bare tree in a winter landscape. His teacher told him that it wasn’t dark enough and he was to outline the branches of the tree in darker pencil lines. He did as he was told. He subsequently refused to enter the picture as he didn’t like it anymore. It wasn’t that he thought the picture would have definitely not won a prize after he had been made to alter it, but it was no longer “his” creation. To this day he feels regret that he was unable to express this to his teacher. Too many times art in my children's schools has consisted of every child being handed the same materials where each one has to put them together in the same way. What is that teaching our children about creativity? What happens to the gifted creative child if they are not allowed to express themselves with the depth they experience?

Even within the academic sphere we do not encourage creative spirit, answers are formulaic and prescribed across the curriculum. We rarely study any subject matter which has open-ended answers or which sparks debate...there is no room for opinion or divergent thought on our exam papers. Teachers are under pressure to cover long curricula and, even if they wanted to, would be hard pressed to find the time to go outside exam requirements. It is no surprise that by the time our children, particularly our gifted children, leave school their natural creative spark has been dampened.

Now, as the emphasis of education in the 21st Century changes, governments, educators and stakeholders are looking for ways to re-introduce the critical and creative thinking which will be indispensable for the young people of tomorrow. Programmes such as Future Problem Solving, which we have started (see here) in Ireland, address the crucial skills needed by this generation; research methods, critical thinking, creative problem-solving, innovation, planning and community action. It allows students to develop their own unique way to approach problems using first creativity and imagination, then logic and application. We really need to explore as many ways as we can of giving this skill back to our young people, and we need to do so with a sense of urgency.

Creative Flow and Gifted Children

“Flow is the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” 

When the concept of creativity comes up for discussion, it is never long before Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow comes up. A Hungarian-American psychologist, he has devoted his career to the study of human happiness. He has shown that, regardless of culture or station in life, there is one thing which makes us all happy; being in a state of flow. So, what does this mean? It means experiencing some or all of the following:

1. Being completely involved in what we are doing…focused, concentrated.

2. A sense of ecstasy, meaning the feeling of being outside everyday reality. 

3. Great inner clarity…knowing what needs to be done and how well we are doing it. 

4. Knowing that the activity is do-able…that our skills are adequate to the task. 

5. A sense of serenity…no worries about oneself and a feeling of going beyond the boundaries of
     the ego, of being a part of something larger. 

6. Timelessness…thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes. 

7. Intrinsic motivation…whatever produces flow becomes its own reward.

In a state of flow, one becomes so intensely focused on the task in hand that one ceases to be aware of anything else, even hunger, tiredness or the passage of time. Csikszentmihalyi says that it is the "spontaneous, effortless experience you achieve when you have a close match between a high level of challenge and the skills you need to meet that challenge. The experience is almost addictive and very rewarding."

The centre point of this graph, where the sectors meet, represents average challenge and average skill level. In order for flow to occur, the level of both skill and challenge must be beyond average and the challenge must be at or slightly above the skill level. If the challenge is too little, we feel bored or apathetic. If the challenge is too great, we feel worried or anxious. For a given challenge, the state between anxiety and flow is arousal. From here, to tip into a state of flow, we need to slightly increase our skill level. It is here that most learning occurs. As our skill increases, we also need to gradually increase the challenge accordingly. The further from the centre in each sector, the more intense the experience of that state.

Interestingly, he points out that small children, as they learn to walk and talk etc, spend large amounts of time in a state of flow. They choose their tasks and challenges to suit. As they get older and begin school, the choice of both task and level of challenge is removed and the less time they get to spend in flow.

The level of challenge in a mainstream classroom is set for the average student. In that setting, it may be difficult for a gifted or exceptionally able child to find a challenge to match his/her skill level so that they reach the state of arousal where learning occurs, never mind a state of flow. Without the inherent reward and motivation which that brings, the risk is that they become bored, apathetic underachievers. In their study Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success and Failure, Csikszentmihalyi and colleagues reached the conclusion that experiencing "flow was the strongest predictor of subjective engagement and how far the student progressed in the school's curriculum."

“the best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is, therefore, something which we make happen”

We can all get into “the zone” at some level, but to go deep and experience a high level of flow during which we are truly creative in the sense that we produce something new and special, our skill level must be very high. Regardless of any innate potential ability which we may have, research has shown that it is only after about 10,000 hours of dedicated practice that we develop mastery of a skill. This means about 10 years of hard work!

It is my belief that gifted children are born with innate high ability. There is no doubt that these children learn faster and differently than other children. However, in order to keep alive that spark and love of learning, they need challenges appropriate to their exceptional ability. In order to unlock and develop their potential, they need to be given the opportunity to experience flow. Then, just the same as anyone else, they must work and practice to hone their skill. I believe that we can all be creative, but only a few have the potential to be truly exceptional. 

In this video, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi discusses Creativity, Fulfillment and Flow:

Further reading: 

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Psychology-Experience-Mihaly-Csikszentmihalyi/dp/0060920432

Do Students Care About Learning? A Conversation with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: http://www.learnersedgeinc.com/file/988-1.pdf

Examination of Csikszentmihalyi's Theory of Flow and its Implications in Education: http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/mihaly-csikszentmihalyis-theory-of-flow-1674

Future Problem Solving Program International comes to Ireland

Frazzled and I have been friends for nearly two years now, although in many ways it feels as if we’ve known each other forever! We have discovered much common ground and a mutual passion for advocating for gifted education issues in Ireland. Over this time we have found examples of many programmes in place abroad which serve the needs of gifted students and have bemoaned the lack of availability of such initiatives here. Apart from CTYI , there is little specific provision for gifted learners.

Future Problem Solving Program International (FPSPI) was one such programme which caught our eye. This programme is of huge interest to us because it addresses what we see as one of the main deficits in Irish schools today, namely, the lack of opportunity to develop problem solving skills in a team environment... a key component of the 21st Century skills needed for success in the workplace.

The programme is part of a now global effort to acquaint students with “thinking skills via an adaptation of the creative problem solving process”. Teams of four students apply the six-step process to find solutions to problems in an imagined future. Elements of political, ecological, economic, scientific, social or technological issues are presented in three different problems during the school year. Teams tackle each future scene separately throughout the school year and use critical thinking methods to develop solutions to pertinent issues. They choose one problem among those they have identified and work on an action plan to address it. They evaluate their own plan as they work on it under the guidance of trained coaches. The first two problems are practise ones, the third is known as a qualifying problem and through it, teams have the chance to compare themselves against other local teams in competition. All of their work is passed on to trained evaluators who give feedback and scoring as the basis for further improvement of these key skills.

Seeing an opportunity to introduce this programme to Irish students, we got in touch last year with FPSPI Board of Trustees member Deb Woythal who started us on our way with our fledgling team of four. She, along with a colleague in the UK, are mentoring our efforts to establish a working programme of FPSPI with Irish students. Their help, support and enthusiasm were invaluable and we are very grateful that they have allowed us bring FPSPI to Ireland. Last year, in between sports matches, music lessons, exams and homework, our team succeeded in producing some fine work for a first attempt. This year, we are expanding the programme in our local area with secondary students. As the programme also works for primary-age pupils, we are planning some involvement for that age-group soon. If you are interested in talking to us about the programme or how to include your school in our pilot project please do not hesitate to get in touch.

In Ireland we hear government and business leaders talking about preparing our workforce to be flexible and innovative, to use creativity and cooperation in problem-solving, to use communications technology effectively, and yet, we continue to educate both our children and their teachers in an out-moded content-based learning model. Bringing a programme such as FPSPI to Ireland is our effort to address this gap.

Bright, gifted or creative...does it matter?

Image from bertiekingore.com

I was thinking recently about how fast the summer holidays have disappeared and half-dreading half-welcoming the back-to-school rush which is upon us already. That got me thinking, as usual, on whether I should ask to meet my children's teachers right away in September to explain their learning differences. One (more!) challenge for teachers is identifying gifted learners and distinguishing them from bright high achievers. So how can teachers figure out who is bright and motivated, and who is gifted? And more pertinently, why does it matter?

This useful checklist will help determine bright from gifted learners, but doesn’t help tell us why schools should make the distinction. In fact, in our current educational system, where rote-learning is rewarded with high marks in State Exams, there may be no way to distinguish gifted students from bright students. And where there are likely to be a good cohort of bright children in every school, the same cannot be said of gifted learners who form a much smaller number of the population.

So, who are the bright, high achievers? They are the ones whose school reports read: “a pleasure to teach”. They are motivated, conscientious and hard-working. They fit in well in the school system, present good work, are motivated and committed to getting good results. They do well in exams and leave school with awards and prizes under their belts. They may be sports captains, head boys, head girls or prefects and are often among the most popular members of the student body. They are seen as having much to contribute to their communities. These children still need adults, parents and teachers to support them in continuing to add to their achievements, but as they are adept at working within the system they usually have little difficulty maintaining their high standards. In short, these children are the ones teachers and parents don’t really have to worry about.

What of the gifted learners then? The common myth is that these are the children who “have it all”, the easy path to academic success. Surely if the bright, high achievers have little to trouble them, the same would be true of the gifted learners? Not always so, unfortunately. Of course, it must be said that there are many gifted learners who are consistent and high achievers, who fit happily in the system and thrive as much as do bright hard-working students. Others, however, look at learning from a very different perspective, one that can cause huge conflict and difficulty between student, school and parent. They question, notice inconsistencies and injustices, they go off on tangents, they challenge, they often irritate! At primary school, some may correct the teacher...loudly. By secondary they may have learned not to do that any more, or may have learned to at least keep it quiet! Some may under-perform in State Exams to the frustration of their parents, teachers and even themselves. They may start to question their abilities when they don’t fit into the exam success box. They may follow their passions which may not “count” in the future points race. They might even question the “point” of the points race before they get to the Leaving Cert! Along the way they may show flashes of brilliance and excellence in certain subjects or areas. They can demonstrate erratic performance in school, from complete mastery to average or mediocre levels, depending on their interest, their teacher or their passions. The creative among them often sing from a completely different hymn-sheet, some may not even see the point of school at all in the pursuit of their dreams. They may have a different vision of their future than the one mapped out by their parents or teachers. They may be right, but the adults in their lives may think they should have a Plan B in the form of formal educational qualifications!

So, why does it matter? Two groups of learners, one for whom the system is a good fit, the other, well, they’ll come into their own at third level. Or will they? Without going down the road of heralding the potential of gifted learners as if they are mere fodder in the pursuit of economic growth and a return to the Celtic Tiger (God forbid!) these young people, as much as any other, do have the potential to make real and significant contributions to our future society. I’m not one who likes to describe gifted children as the future cancer-cure scientists or business and political leaders because I’m uncomfortable with the implication that only gifted children hold this potential. We all know the reality is that children across the intellectual bell-curve can grow into adults just as accomplished as those with the highest IQs. However, these exceptionally able children, for whom the educational system is an uncomfortable fit, are at risk of having their potential snuffed out by it. Whether their chosen path is at the top of academia, as a carer, a teacher or an accountant, they have a right to fulfill their personal potential. In this, gifted learners are poorly served by the Irish educational system in its current form. The inflexibility of rote-learning, the volume of prescribed material to be covered and the lack of opportunity for creativity, problem-solving or innovation in our exam system greatly reduces the chances that these young people will reach that potential. The risk is that they will be switched off learning by the time they have spent 13 or 14 years within a system that does not accommodate their needs.  The result will be that their career and life-choices may be reduced. And that is why it is important that teachers are able to accurately assess who among their pupils may be gifted as opposed to bright. From there, educators may be able to support the differences in their learning needs.

So, back to whether I should have that chat with my children’s teachers? Truth is, we’re into the first week of school now and I still haven’t decided. I don’t want to be labeled as a pushy parent in the first week of term and I don’t want unreasonable expectations placed on my kids either. On the other hand, nor do I want to short-change them by ignoring the fact that they are seldom challenged by classroom work. Maybe by the time they are heading to college I’ll have an answer to my dilemma. I’ll let you know!