{"id":57798,"date":"2021-06-18T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2021-06-18T12:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=57798"},"modified":"2021-06-17T16:59:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T20:59:51","slug":"having-high-abilities-is-not-what-it-seems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/having-high-abilities-is-not-what-it-seems\/","title":{"rendered":"Having high abilities is not what it seems"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

There is a large research community in Europe, and particularly in the US and English-speaking countries, on the education of the most capable.\u00a0There are\u00a0scientific societies<\/a>\u00a0of enormous relevance and there are thousands\u00a0of books and research articles published to date<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n

However, all this wealth of research and knowledge does not seem to have penetrated either the practice or the legislation on the educational system as would be expected.\u00a0I will briefly refer to a crucial aspect in order to develop talent (consequent on the application of the ability to a given field):\u00a0the concept<\/a>\u00a0.<\/p>\n

The conceptual problem is very serious, not only in the popular imagination of many teachers, counselors or directors of educational centers, but also in the legislative framework, which has undesirable consequences for both identification and intervention – and let us remember the phrase of that “talent that is not cultivated is lost” -.<\/p>\n

Terms such as\u00a0gifted<\/em>\u00a0, which means “gifted”,\u00a0should not be equated\u00a0and equivalent to gifted (its correlate in English would be\u00a0supergifted<\/em>\u00a0, which does not exist), because this usually involves a tagging process that is linked, very often, to obtaining an intellectual quotient (IQ) value, generally 130, as if that value were a kind of boiling point or sublimation through which one passes from \u201cnot being\u201d to \u201cbeing\u201d, which implies considering\u00a0giftedness<\/em>\u00a0as a trait or attribute.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

The “gold chromosome”<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The central problem here is that the label is made equivalent to a “state of being”, or a trait or “gold chromosome”, so that some people have it and others do not.\u00a0In this way, being\u00a0gifted becomes<\/em>\u00a0a dichotomous variable, whose categories are arbitrarily established from a cut-off point.<\/p>\n

Nothing is further from reality and common sense.\u00a0Anyone can understand that capacity is a variable, in a way, continuous, like height or weight (saving the complications of measuring one or the other).\u00a0Anyone also understands that it is arbitrary to dichotomize people into highs and not highs based on a certain arbitrarily established measure.\u00a0Even more so to equal a certain height to the fact of playing basketball well.<\/p>\n

The term is not suitable<\/strong><\/h4>\n

There are several reasons why talking about gifted (or gifted) is inappropriate, despite the fact that much legislation insists on it in an insistent way.\u00a0It has already been said that it is not a natural attribute or condition that some have and others do not.\u00a0For this reason, it cannot be reflected exclusively in an IQ score, and, although this may have some usefulness, it is of little or no value in organizing the educational intervention.<\/p>\n

All current models emphasize the importance of development throughout a person’s life, establishing the impact of the environment on said development as essential.\u00a0In this sense, it can be said that we are all in the process of being, we are not.<\/p>\n

Seen in this way, ability becomes the raw material for talent.\u00a0It indicates the eventual potential to be developed by the person, when these capacities are applied to any relevant field of human activity.\u00a0Something that does not happen spontaneously.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it seems sensible to understand that this conceptualization has to put in the foreground the need to identify the diverse potentials of people to help them turn them into talents or developed skills, into performance.<\/p>\n

Furthermore,\u00a0as Pfeiffer points out<\/a>\u00a0, the term\u00a0gifted<\/em>\u00a0(and its noun,\u00a0giftedness<\/em>\u00a0) is a social construct, a name we use to refer to a heterogeneous group of people who are characterized by having a high capacity, high performance or potential surrender.<\/p>\n

The most precise definition<\/strong><\/h4>\n

But is it possible to define them?\u00a0Yes, and several authors have offered\u00a0definitions<\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0Perhaps one of the most authoritative is that of the\u00a0National Association for Gifted Children<\/a>\u00a0, which says:<\/p>\n

\u201cGifted and talented students perform, or have the ability to perform, at higher levels compared to others of the same age, experience, and background, in one or more domains.\u00a0They require modifications in their educational experiences to learn and realize their potential.\u00a0The gifted and talented student comes from all racial, ethnic, and cultural populations, as well as all economic strata.\u00a0Requires sufficient access to appropriate learning opportunities to realize its potential.\u00a0You may have learning and processing disorders that require specialized and appropriate intervention.\u00a0You need support and guidance to develop socially and emotionally, as well as in your talent areas.\u00a0It requires varied services based on its changing needs \u201d.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is important to bear in mind that not only cognitive variables are relevant.\u00a0In addition to general intellectual capacity, specific abilities and\u00a0a number of non-intellectual factors are<\/a>\u00a0instrumental in shaping a successful trajectory for the most capable young people.<\/p>\n

Thus, based on this or other similar definitions, it is possible to define them and even operationalize detection and evaluation processes that allow early identification of their educational needs and address them adequately in the classroom, an aspect that is far from happening in our educational system. .<\/p>\n

We should not lose sight of the fact that all talent that is not cultivated is lost and this has serious consequences for personal and social development.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Javier Tour\u00f3n is <\/span>Vice-Rector for Innovation and Educational Development (expert in High capacities and talent development; educational technology) at UNIR – International University of La Rioja<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a large research community in Europe, and particularly in the US and English-speaking countries, on the education of the most capable.\u00a0There are\u00a0scientific societies\u00a0of enormous relevance and there are thousands\u00a0of books and research articles published to date\u00a0. However, all this wealth of research and knowledge does not seem to have penetrated either the practice […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":57799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[401026],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-57798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-gifted-and-talented-students"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHaving high abilities is not what it seems - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/having-high-abilities-is-not-what-it-seems\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Having high abilities is not what it seems - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is a large research community in Europe, and particularly in the US and English-speaking countries, on the education of the most capable.\u00a0There are\u00a0scientific societies\u00a0of enormous relevance and there are thousands\u00a0of books and research articles published to date\u00a0. 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