The parents and educators of “high potential” children often wonder what the way is to help them express their talent
Anna is just over 4 years old, but her parents realized that, simply by observing her older sister she attends primary school, she learned to read. Dedicating to reading has a lot of fun, because the stories he discovers in books fascinate it and arouse her interest. The observation of the natural environment, plants and animals also fills it with curiosity, and often her considerations and her questions surprise adults.
Michele is a 10 -year -old boy and for a few months he has been approaching the study of the piano: music has always been his favorite playmate and the teacher who follows him reports that his progress is truly remarkable in relation to the average, also because the passion he shows makes him appear much heavy than the usual exercises to the instrument.
Are Anna and Michele “brilliant children”? How did they develop the abilities just described so easily?
Children “Gifted”
Girls and boys like Anna and Michele, who show remarkable but very different skillsare indicated with various expressions, often pronounced with admiration, to underline Out of the ordinary skills“High cognitive potential”. They are defined as children “gifted“Or” surpasses “, or even brilliant, talented, very intelligent childrenearly, exceptional, excellent, creative … these are often generic and not better specified expressions or that concern only some aspects, but that intend to emphasize particular skills that represent a challenge for educators and parents. These pose the problem of what is right to do to accompany children in a growth that guarantees their psychophysical well -being and the realization of their potential. In Italy the attention to the educational needs of children and teenagers with higher ability to the average, as for some time reports the scholars who deal with it, is very incomplete and the path still at the beginning.
To frame the question, we asked for the help of an expert internationally: Cesare Cornoldi, Emeritus professor at the Department of General Psychology of the University of Paduafor a long time active in research on these issues.
Define the “exceptional skills”
It is first of all important to try to clarify on the terms used, often generic and not very precise. Remember Cornoldi: «For example, “Plusadotation” is a generic term that translates the equally generic English gifted And it means that a person has in some aspect an out of the ordinary equipment. In principle, all aspects that concern human beings could be considered as a potential surplus manifestation: intellectual, artistic, engines and so on, but, beyond some marginal uses, Usually we speak of surplus to refer to intelligence, talent and creativity. As I tried to illustrate in my studies, these are three different aspects but that have common elements ».
Rained children: how to recognize them?
Let’s see below How to recognize and distinguish the characteristics of the capitalized children.
A person who shows some specific skills who, however, do not generally concern all aspects of mental functioning can be defined “talented“: An exceptional ability aimed, for example, to mechanics, visual-spatial or calculation skills can represent a talent, if in other areas or fields there are no particular skills or if there are, on the contrary, weaknesses. A considerable ability to combine each other in unpublished ways and outside the most usual and apparently logical ways, using the so -called “divergent thought” is, instead, typical of the people who call themselves “creative“. There are, then, some People with very high general cognitive capacity (When applying surplus, we generally refer to this case), which, as history teaches, can, in exceptional cases, converge in what is usually called “genius”.
Some children and teenagers with superior intellectual skills, to avoid amplify their insecurities and not be excluded from the group of peers, for example at school, avoid emerging or explicitly highlighting their skills. In these cases, some scholars have spoken of “underground” surpasses (underground) (1), which are characterized by fragility, anxiety and not full awareness of their qualities.
Plusted children: tests and evaluation tools
One of the characteristics of girls and boys with high intellectual potential is the fact of showing skills that seem in advance of the average of those who are the same ageand it is an aspect highlighted also by the tests used by the experts. Cornoldi underlines: “Greeting is not a necessary feature, but it is still typical of surplus And it is an element that allows you to recognize it in time ».
To get an idea of the earliness shown by boys and girls, Experts use questionnaires that undergo parents. The questionnaire naturally constitutes only the beginning of a more complex in -depth analysis, which often also includes the measurement of cognitive skillswith a Qi test, which however certainly does not exhaust the evaluation. Adds Cornoldi: «The most accredited intelligence tests are very accurate, certainly more than some medical tests to which we rely safely, and offer useful and important information. The problem is to understand what information it is and not to go from the extreme of denying its validity to the opposite one to rely on a number to understand a person. In particular, The main number that derives from an intelligence test, the famous intelligence quotient, constitutes an approximate and global indication of a profile that is much more complex. For example, it does not differentiate between general intelligence and talent, and between various forms of intelligence. Only the expert can help families understand what is under a complex evaluation of intelligence and to grasp any limits of a certain evaluation ».
Each person is unique
A very important thing that educators and parents must keep in mind is, in fact, that There is no unique way to accompany and enhance the skills or talent of all people. The expert continues: «It can generate confusion and perhaps even irritating to feel that there are no general rules and that the advice must be adapted to the individual case. But the things are like that, because Each child is different not only in its characteristics of surplus, but also in the associated ones ».
For example, although sometimes the emotional and relational fragility are accompanied by surplus, also emerged from some studies, it is not appropriate to generalize. “It is usually said – adds Cornoldi – that the surpasses are very fragile, like magnificent crystal objects that can break in a thousand pieces, but it is an exaggeration. For example, a very wide investigation (2) has shown that The intellectual surcades, on average, are emotionally and socially better than the other children. This does not mean that there may be cases with difficulties that require particular attention, as happens for example for those with so -called “double exceptionalism”, which they also combine a specific problemas a specific learning or neurosviluppo disorder. A recent Interuniversity conference has proposed new guidelines to better accompany the path of these girls and boys ».
“Garders”, not “manufacturers”
As we said, there are no paths that can be valid for everyone, but it is possible to give parents and educators some general advice, which may be deepened with the help of the experts: “The fundamental recommendation – recalls Cesare Cornoldi – is that of grow talent (and to prevent it from finding strokes to its deployment) According to the logic of the “gardener”, without forcing or imposing enhancement with the logic of the “manufacturer”to encourage together psychological well -being and the enhancement of talent ».
The metaphor of the “gardener” and the “manufacturer”, introduced by Alison Gopnik (3), contrasts Two educational styles which are based on different principles. The first is based on promoting growth by creating conditions so that potential can express themselves at bestremoving obstacles and proposing small adjustments. The second provides for a more active intervention than the educatorwho mobilizes to enhance the talents shown by girls and boys through special courses, study of artistic techniques and the like, without waiting for there to be particular requests in this sense.
Plusted children and problems to face
A “manufacturer’s parent” tends to treat his son or daughter as a small adult and promotes the showing of his exceptional qualities. Although reliable and precise data are missing on the effects of educational styles in relation to surplus, Experts believe that the manufacturer’s attitude can make children feel too pressing, undermining, in the long run, serenity and, in general, psychological well -being. In addition, the gardener model allows you to indulge the skills without harming them in constraints that risk preventing their manifestation in the best way for the single person.
Among the advice (4) that experts address to parents of high potential girls and boys, there is also thebe careful to avoid comparisons with other childrento maintain a Open and available dialoguea avoid excess expectations and not to discourage the curiosity of the children. But, as is underlined, we must not even be taken by the fear of not being “up to parishness and the potential of the son, because the first thing that girls and boys need is to know that they can count on the love and support of their parents.
