The header image on this website is the skyline in the Kenyan Serengeti as photographed by the author in March of 2010. On March 26, 2010, The First World Mini-conference on Gifted and Talented Children in Africa was held in Nairobi, Kenya, with 1200 persons in attendance. The following is an excerpt from the Keynote Address by Cathrine Froese Klassen.
Froese Klassen, C. (2010). Keynote Speech. The First World Mini-conference on Gifted and Talented Children in Africa, Nairobe, Kenya, March 26, 2010.
Over the years, many issues in gifted education have been addressed and, subsequently, channelled into mainstream education. Currently, a more elusive, but critical, concern is the social capital that gifted children bring to society. The term “social capital” has acquired many different interpretations, but, to my mind, it consists of the tangible and environment-changing contributions that the gifted and talented bring to society, whether at the local or international level, that affect our day-to-day lives. Our putting time and resources into the lives of children benefits society at large. Dr. Joseph Renzulli, from the University of Connecticut, who has made an enormous impact on gifted education worldwide says that investments in social capital benefit society as a whole because they help to create the values, norms, networks, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation geared toward the greater public good. The objectives of fostering social capital are implicit in the two key questions that Renzulli raises, namely,
(a) “Can a better understanding of people who use their gifts in socially constructive ways help us create conditions that expand the number of people who contribute to the growth of social as well as economic capital?” and
(b) “Can we influence the ethics and morality of future industrial and political leaders so that they value gross national happiness as highly as or more highly than gross national product?”
What is needed to answer these two questions is the nurturing of leadership in our children and young people. There is considerable literature on leadership in gifted education, but little research has examined, in depth, what it is that motivates gifted leaders to give of themselves selflessly in the interest of freedom, peace, safety, and human good. Why is it that some students with high intellectual capacity, excellent performance and achievement, and social advantage do not naturally commit themselves to activities that will result in societal improvement and, yet, others fling themselves wholeheartedly into such activities?
We can surmise what some of the key qualities are that produce this kind of motivation: hopefulness, passion, sensitivity and compassion, and vision. But how are such qualities engendered?
Educators know that these qualities cannot be taught by direct instruction. External behaviours can be modified, but one cannot, for example, directly teach students how to achieve a sense of destiny. To nurture these characteristics requires a systemic approach that allows students to discover and study their own capabilities, interests, and passions, and to explore topics and ideas of personal interest by various means, including providing exposure and experiences that require their involvement. Such opportunities require resources, occasion, support, and teachers and coaches who are trained to provide the environment and who can model the desired qualities for the gifted students. Sometimes, the necessary experiences occur spontaneously, but the support is always needed.
The 1962 book, by Mildred and Victor Goertzel, Cradles of Eminence, examines how it is that gifted individuals rise to a position of eminence. The authors studied 400 individuals whom they judged to have risen to such a position. They considered “eminence” as the sense of “positive contribution of individuals who have served as [an] inspiration for future generations,” often despite traumatic experiences in their childhood. Many became eminent “largely because they challenged prevailing social customs.” Ted Goertzel, son of the original authors, resumed the research and took it upon himself to add another 300 persons to the list, covering the period between the time of the original publication and his own publication in 2004. In his concluding chapter, he discusses how schools can help bright, gifted, sensitive, and creative children. He writes that “[f]or many of our subjects, schooling was something they had to get out of the way so they could work on what was really important for them. Many found school boring and tedious because the pace was too slow or because it took too much time away from other things they wanted to do.”
He concludes that there are a few factors critical to the success of gifted children: First, more flexibility is needed in the schools to help bright, talented children. Furthermore, these children need teachers who are sensitive to their learning and motivation needs and who negotiate different or unusual independent projects with the children, still giving some guidelines and timelines. Then, teachers and principals need to make provision that allows a student to progress to an advanced class in the area of talent and interest. It is not enough to have a few hours of enrichment per week. In other words,“[Gifted] children are [gifted] all day every day.”
Froese Klassen, C. (2010). Keynote Speech. The First World Mini-conference on Gifted and Talented Children in Africa, Nairobe, Kenya, March 26, 2010.