Talent Development as an Emerging Framework for Gifted Education

1. Talent Development as an Emerging Framework for Gifted Education Paula Olszewski-Kubilius Center for Talent Development Northwestern University

2. The Julliard Effect: Ten Years Later (NYT, Dec., 2004) • What many of the Juilliard class have learned over the last decade is that when it comes to making a career, talent is rarely the most important quality. It takes discipline, focus and energy - and connections, often formed at Juilliard. • "Just because you play really well," he said, "that's not enough. You need vision, you need persistence, you need passion for what you do, and you need to provide something unique. "I've formed relationships with conductors and producers. We found out what we like to do with each other in a changing market. Rather than be the missing part of a puzzle, you can create a puzzle around you." • Once at Juilliard, they discover the inherent paradox of being a classical musician. You are called on to be expressive, imaginative, creative, somehow in touch with the mystical reaches of art, an individual. But you are also called on to ply a craft with exceeding skill, meshing a complex of minute physical activities in the service of black markings on a page and the composers who wrote them, often submerging yourself in the crowd. And you do it all with the purpose of making a living.

3. Fundamental Tensions in Gifted Education • Disconnect between childhood and adulthood giftedness • Lack of consensus about the goal of gifted education • Is there a unique pedagogy for gifted children or just a need for good teaching? • “Nature versus Nurture”—giftedness as being versus giftedness as achievement

4. Current Forces Affecting Gifted Education • Tenuous commitment on the part of states and federal government to gifted education • National focus on minimal standards despite excellence gaps • Increasingly diverse student population • Increases in income disparity among US citizens • Rising child poverty rate • New research attesting to the malleability of intelligence

5. Definitions • Giftedness is a developmental process that is domain specific and malleable. Although the path may begin with demonstrated potential, giftedness must be developed and sustained by way of training and interventions in domain-specific skills and programs and deliberate development of the psychological and social skills needed to pursue difficult new paths. The goal of this developmental process is to transform potential talent during youth into outstanding performance and innovation in adulthood. (Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius& Worrell, 2011).

6. NAGC Redefining Giftedness for a New Century: Shifting the Paradigm • Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports). • The development of ability or talent is a lifelong process. It can be evident in young children as exceptional performance on tests and/or other measures of ability or as a rapid rate of learning, compared to other students of the same age, or in actual achievement in a domain. As individuals mature through childhood to adolescence, however, achievement and high levels of motivation in the domain become the primary characteristics of their giftedness. Various factors can either enhance or inhibit the development and expression of abilities.

7. What’s Different About Talent Development?

8. Giftedness: Role of General and Specific Abilities Giftedness is General OR Giftedness is Domain Specific Dai, 2010

10. Ability Matters… • All tests, even ability tests, reflect previous opportunity to learn and level of developed talent (Lohman) • IQ scores can increase with the provision of opportunity, especially for children from poverty—intelligence is not fixed • Predictive validity of IQ for creative achievement in adulthood is low: IQ does predict later school performance

11. Ability Matters…. • Domain specific abilities-i.e. mathematical or verbal ability (SMPY research, Lubinski & Benbow) DO predict later school achievement and adult creative and scholarly accomplishments • There is no threshold for specific academic abilities; higher levels are associated with higher adult accomplishment • Greater variability in terms of specific abilities among higher IQ individuals • Use of specific abilities is common in performing arts domains

12. Law, Administrative, Executive and Management, Medical Doctors Mathematical Ability Verbal Ability

13. Astronomy and Physics, Mathematics and Statistics, Computer and Information Sciences, MBA, Engineering, Economics Verbal Ability Mathematical Ability (Spatial Ability)

14. Social Sciences, Biological Sciences, Arts, History, English Literature Mathematical Ability Verbal Ability

15. Individual differences In ability are the foundation of gifted education Ability General ability is foundational, specific abilities are increasingly important Importance of general and specific abilities varies by domain of talent and age General ability (IQ) is primary

16. Giftedness is Developmental • Stage 1—Ability or Potential • Stage 2—Competency • Stage 3—Expertise • Stage 4–- Artistry, Creative or Scholarly Productivity

17. Talent Development Is A Process Levers are opportunity, effort, practice, study, motivation

18. Trajectories for Different Domains of Talent

19. Achievement Traditional Talent Development Potential and ability defines giftedness in younger children Exceptional achievement defines giftedness by secondary school • An individual can be gifted irrespective of achievement

20. What About Under-Achievers?? • Should be identified early and provided assistance and interventions (Siegle, The Underachieving Gifted Child,Prufrock Press) • Twice exceptional children need to be identified and provided appropriate supports for both their giftedness and disability (see NAGC position paper on Twice-Exceptionality, www.nagc.org)

21. Giftedness as.... Being Doing/Becoming Giftedness is achieved….as result of learning, practice, and social and technical support, subject to further development and change over time • Giftedness is possessed: giftedness is biologically constitutional, an enduring personal quality that ultimately explains gifted behavior and outstanding achievement over time—it is who you are…. Dai, 2010

22. Psychosocial Skills Are Critical

23. Psychosocial Skills That Support Talent Development • Openness to new experience • Self-efficacy • Self-confidence • Grit • Growth mindset • Emotional regulation • Coping skills for failure, disappointment • Resiliency • Comfort with intellectual tension • Ability to handle competition and critique • Psychological independence from parents, teachers

24. Gifted children have unique social, psychological and emotional needs Psychosocial Development Not inherent in being gifted Needs result from interaction between gifted individual & environment, influenced by culture and opportunity Psychosocial skills are critical to talent development and these change with domain of talent and stage of developed talent Emphasizes deliberate cultivation of psychosocial skills to support giftedness and high achievement within domains • Some social-emotional attributes seen as enduring characteristics of all gifted individuals and defining of and inherent within giftedness

25. Outcomes of Gifted Education Programs • The anticipated social roles that people of high potential will play should be the main rationale for both supporting special programs and designing learning experiences that will prepare today’s students for responsible leadership roles in the future. (Renzulli, 2012)

26. Parent’s Commentary • Speaking just for myself, I am frustrated when I see comments about how "gifted programs" have failed if their graduates turn out to be "ordinary" and don't turn out to be distinguished or "successful" by some outside standard. I want to grab these authors by the lapels and scream "that's just the point!” I don't expect my children to become "great". I just want them to survive school with their spirits mostly intact. • We should identify gifted students to find those for whom regular classroom instruction is inappropriate so the level and pace of instruction can be modified and they don't go crazy sitting in class.

28. The Outcomes of Gifted Education Happy, healthy, productive, creative gifted adults Moving students to the next level of talent development—i.e. developing potential into competency, competency into expertise and expertise into creative achievement in adulthood Cultivating domain specific talents to a high degree Short term outcome is responding to student’s immediate needs for greater challenge and faster pacing and intellectual peer group Long term outcome not often specified

29. Implications for Practice: Domain Specific Abilities • *IQ test and general ability tests are useful, especially with young children and with students who have had limited opportunities to learn, e.g. low income students • *Domain specific assessments need to be used no later than middle school but a variety of assessments can be used, depending upon the domain, e.g. tests, auditions and judgments by professionals and experts, portfolios • * Important to match identification to domain of talent

30. Implications for Practice: Developmental Trajectories • *Students need different kinds of instruction/programming at different stages of talent development • *Schools need to develop articulated sequence of programs K-12 within major domains that enable students to move ahead at a faster pace (acceleration) and provide continuous skill development regardless of where they start

31. Talent Development Process

32. Stages of Talent Development Early exposure and playful engagement through family activities, formal enrichment activities, early enrichment in school School-based and outside-of-school programs that develop foundational knowledge and skills at appropriate (accelerated) pace Independent research and projects, mentorships, apprenticeships, authentic work in domain

33. Implications for Practice: Ability is Malleable • Engage in ongoing assessment for giftedness so as to identify late bloomers and students whose talents emerge later due to poverty or lack of early opportunity • *Create multiple opportunities and multiple paths for students to enter gifted programs (e.g. testing and portfolios) • *Intensely frontload opportunities in early years for students from povertyand other under-identified gifted students

34. Implications for Practice • Provide earlier exposure to some fields, such as philosophy or engineering, typically not studied until college • *Provide more varied program models for secondary students (e.g. mentorships, research opportunities, apprenticeships)—beyond AP and IB.

35. Implications for Practice: Psychosocial Skills are Critical • *Psycho-social skills that support high achievement and commitment to excellence must be actively and deliberately cultivated via programming, counseling, and mentoring of students • *Involve parents in assisting with psycho-social skill development at home and outside of school • **Emotional support from educators and parents for students choosing a path of high achievement is critical

36. Implications for Practice: Outcome is Scholarly/Creative Productivity • *Provide opportunities to engage in creative production early • *Cultivate attitudes and mindsets crucial to creativity (e.g. openness, risk-taking) • *Deliberately teach creative problem solving skills and heuristics • *Help students appreciate the rewards of a creative career

37. Scholarly productivity/ Artistry Expertise Competency Potential