In America 48 out of 50 states have programmes for brainy children, but in the decade before 2013, 24 redefined them, typically ditching the “gifted” label in favour of on a single IQ score “high-ability”. Today no state relies to select students. In of the his book “Ungifted” Scott Barry Kaufman University of Pennsylvania calls this a from just 20 years “huge change countries have seen similar shifts. ago”. European School districts are also testing for other attributes, including spatial ability (ie, the capacity to generate, manipulate and store visual images). Jonathan Wai, a psychologist, notes that spatial ability as a child is strongly linked to achievement in science and technology in later life. The Finnish study also found this. But it is less correlated with income during childhood than are verbal and mathematical scores. So testing for it gives talented poor children a better chance to shine, says Mr Wai. The power of persistence Other researchers worry, though, that no matter how good the selection process, relying only on measures of intelligence will fail to find children with the potential to excel in adult life. Psychologists such as Mr Kaufman argue that there are many more possible paths to success in adulthood than often assumed, and that education must do more to foster attributes such as passion, determination and creativity. or more Whether termed “grit”, “task-motivation” “conscientiousness”, psychologists are emphasising the role of much as talent persistence. “As of the University of counts, effort counts twice,” writes Angela Duckworth Pennsylvania, in published in 2016. For Anders Ericsson of Florida “Grit”, State University, deliberate practice over a long period (popularly understood as 10,000 hours) is critical. Such statements are simplistic. But few researchers disagree with the idea that talent requires development, and that should involve promoting hard work as well as intelligence. Gifted programmes from to Singapore’s specialist maths schools make it a priority to help children England’s pursue their passion. Robotics prodigies, for example, may be given the opportunity to shadow university students. There is evidence that aspects of gifted education should influence education more broadly. Project Bright Idea, developed at Duke University, saw 10,000 typical nursery and primary-school pupils taught using methods often reserved for brainier kids—fostering high
In America 48 out of 50 states have programmes for brainy children, but in the decade before 2013, 24 redefined them, typically ditching the “gifted” label in favour of “high-ability”. Today no state relies on a single IQ score to select students. In his book “Ungifted” Scott Barry Kaufman of the University of Pennsylvania calls this a “huge change from just 20 years ago”. European countries have seen similar shifts. School districts are also testing for other attributes, including spatial ability (ie, the capacity to generate, manipulate and store visual images). Jonathan Wai, a psychologist, notes that spatial ability as a child is strongly linked to achievement in science and technology in later life. The Finnish study also found this. But it is less correlated with income during childhood than are verbal and mathematical scores. So testing for it gives talented poor children a better chance to shine, says Mr Wai. The power of persistence Other researchers worry, though, that no matter how good the selection process, relying only on measures of intelligence will fail to find children with the potential to excel in adult life. Psychologists such as Mr Kaufman argue that there are many more possible paths to success in adulthood than often assumed, and that education must do more to foster attributes such as passion, determination and creativity. Whether termed “grit”, “task-motivation” or “conscientiousness”, more psychologists are emphasising the role of persistence. “As much as talent counts, effort counts twice,” writes Angela Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania, in “Grit”, published in 2016. For Anders Ericsson of Florida State University, deliberate practice over a long period (popularly understood as 10,000 hours) is critical. Such statements are simplistic. But few researchers disagree with the idea that talent requires development, and that should involve promoting hard work as well as intelligence. Gifted programmes from Singapore’s to England’s specialist maths schools make it a priority to help children pursue their passion. Robotics prodigies, for example, may be given the opportunity to shadow university students. There is evidence that aspects of gifted education should influence education more broadly. Project Bright Idea, developed at Duke University, saw 10,000 typical nursery and primary-school pupils taught using methods often reserved for brainier kids—fostering high
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