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The Challenge of the Able Child
The Challenge of the Able Child by David George
by David George
Dean of the faculty of Education, Nene College, Northampton
There are so many new initiatives in education at the moment that it is extremely difficult for a busy teacher and
parents to keep up to date with what is happening. Teachers are supposed to be au fait with multi-ethnic education;
equal opportunities; information technology; the new National Curriculum; changing examination systems and
testing; ever changing course content; the home and environment; and the numerous hidden curricula that children
encounter. Here I am suggesting, in addition, that teachers should be very conscious of our more able children and
the number that are underachieving in our schools.
The survival and achievements of the human species owes much to one characteristic – a capacity for creative
problem solving. This ability to find new answers to problems remains a vital one. A major objective of more able
education is to recognise and foster this special ability. Unfortunately the pursuit of this, and related objectives, is
often plagued with confusion, misconception, doubtful assumptions, exaggerated claims and lack of communication.
Who are we talking about? Definitions abound and create much confusion. Many people still discuss giftedness and
talents as if it were a syndrome or set of recognisable characteristics. It is best seen as a useful umbrella term for
individuals with a wide variety of special abilities. In some areas we dare not use the word
gifted and talented but I shall do so because we are the only country in the world that does not use these biblical
terms. The gifted are certainly not a homogenous group and the search for general characteristics of giftedness has
not been fruitful, except where a restricted definition has been used. I would suggest that what we should be seeking
is to define what presents gifted behaviour in the fields of human endeavour in which we are interested, describe
under what conditions such behaviour will emerge, and identify ways of developing such behaviour. This would help
get us away from pseudo-scientific labelling of children. But for teachers the term ‘intellectually underserved’ has
some value. This indicates that the targets of our concern are those who have special learning abilities that have
not been matched with an appropriate programme. Thus the identification process involves not just the study of the
child’s learning characteristics but also the learning environment. It is argued strongly that very few children are
broadly gifted across the curriculum but many children have a talent area (Ogilvie, 1973). Many people in industry,
commerce and government are saying that the country needs these children and of course we do. I feel it is the
moral responsibility of our more able children to serve the country from which we hope they have gained a great deal.
However, the aim of education is to turn the potential of all children into performance and it is every child’s right to
reach the highest performance of which they are capable. The school should provide the right learning environment,
including the creative classroom, where a child can blossom, where individual children can go as far and as fast as
they possibly can without any brakes on the system.
Also in terms of identification the all important ingredient is the creative learning environment. You cannot teach
a child anything but only put them in a learning environment and that will encourage all children to explore their
talents, exercise their developing capacity to learn and understand how to reach the highest potential of which they
are capable. A creative learning environment is one which permits and encourages high ability to show itself. The
best way to identify this is by the standard of work produced by the child. In the creative classroom a teacher in
knowing his or her children, and in understanding what quality work is, will be above all in the best position to identify
high abilities. However, some may miss those who do not conform to the accepted standards of work or behaviour,
children who present motivational or emotional problems, with belligerent or apathetic attitudes and perhaps more
especially children who come from homes who do not share the school’s ethos.
Whilst it is essential that teachers should know their children, they can also consult other people, such as parents, as
to the abilities and interests and needs of the children. In addition check lists are useful as a guide and intelligence
tests can be useful as an initial screen to supplement and counterbalance teacher observations. There are also
achievement tests, batteries and creativity tests. Let me for a moment digress and mention the misuse of the
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The Challenge of the Able Child by David George
intelligence quotient. Many lay and professional people still see the IQ as being the critical indicator of intellectual
giftedness. Despite calls for broader criteria the IQ cut-offs is still widely used for including in or excluding from
special programmes. Several points should be noted: tests which yield IQ’s tap, at best, only a limited number of
abilities that make up intelligence; the IQ is not a measure of general potential or capacity: the IQ can be greatly
influence by environment; intelligence tests take no account of creative thinking or affective characteristics that are
important components of gifted behaviour; and finally we should note that most tests of intelligence are culturally
biased.
The problems of being very able are sometimes presented in a stereotypic form by well-meaning people trying to
draw attention to the needs of these children. The pictures drawn are of the frustrated, bored, unhappy learner,
hiding his/her abilities, underachieving at school, dropping out and becoming a social misfit or delinquent. It is true
to say that there are some very sobering statistics that have come out of the USA recently that show that an undue
proportion of delinquents, criminals, those in prison, drug addicts and social misfits will come from very high ability
groups (Renzulli, 1986). However, the fact is that many of these children with high abilities are more often well
adjusted and they achieve well in the school system. They can be difficult to educate and bring up in the school and
home but there are many reasons for this and it is dangerous to attribute a more able child’s problems to his or her
high ability. One often sees a profile of an underachiever as being someone who is friendly with older pupils, tactless
and impatient with slower minds, restless and inattentive, emotionally unstable, anti-school, orally good but written
work poor and apparently bored. There is obviously much concern about such children in our mixed ability classes
but underachievement amongst such children has probably been exaggerated because the statistical phenomena of
regression to the mean is not often taken into account, and the persistence of the naïve notion that there should be a
close match between IQ and school achievements.
It is hard to find a comprehensive rationale or satisfactory theoretical underpinning for work with our more able
children. Renzulli probably gets closest in presenting his Enrichment Triad Model and the ‘Revolving Door
Identification Model’ (Renzulli, 1977; Renzulli et al., 1981). Despite the tremendous resurgence of interest school
programmes often lack a theoretical basis and too often they fail to take into account what knowledge we do have.
Statements made about what happens to our more able children in our schools are usually generalisations based on
limited observations. Comprehensive studies which describe the impact of classroom life are needed. This is a field
ripe for the application of research skills in classroom interaction analysis.
Intellectual giftedness too often presents a middle-class face in this country. What isthe social/economic and ethnic
make-up of the extension groups found in some schools? Who has gained most from the resurgence of interest in this
movement? The answer both here and overseas tends to be the children from reasonably affluent, dominant/cultural
homes. Under such circumstances the charge of ‘elitism’ is all too easily levelled. We need to assume that special
abilities occur at all social economic levels and among all ethnic groups. Indeed this must be so according to the law
of averages. We also need to examine our practices to ensure that they do not discriminate against ethnic minorities
and lower social/economic groups. We must identify all talents, including others than those valued by the dominant
culture, that reflect the value system and aspirations of ethnic minorities. We must accept that disadvantaged
backgrounds can mask gifts and talents and ensure that we do not compound the problem by low expectations.
Unfortunately, in this country there is a tendency towards homogeneity in that we often treat a class of children as
though they had similar abilities and needs, whereas an average class of children is much more like the New York
skyline with a variety of abilities and needs. Human variation is a fascinating study and in this age of the common
man we must guard against commonness.
One of the challenges referred to above was the National Curriculum. The basic idea of a National Curriculum
was accepted by the country and all major political parties. No teachers’ union rejected the basic idea and parents
accepted a guaranteed broad curriculum for their children. I predict that the Act will not provide great detail but this
will be filled in after the Act over a long time span because the educational system takes a great deal of time to adjust
and there are a great number of documents yet to be produced. This is where all parents and teachers can have
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The Challenge of the Able Child by David George
considerable influence. Serious thought needs to be given to the curriculum methods being used for able children and
we should all act positively rather than looking for negative features. Within the National Curriculum documents there
are several references implying the need for a differentiated curriculum (DES, 1987, paras 4, 8, 23, 27) and the new
GCSE syllabus and examination goes some way to implement this by having a stratified exam system.
THE DIFFERENTIATED CURRICULUM FOR THE MORE ABLE
There are three established characteristics for a differentiated educational programme.
(1) A differentiated curriculum that promotes higher cognitive processes.
(2) Teaching strategies that accommodate both curriculum content and the learning styles of our more able children.
(3) Special grouping arrangements appropriate to particular children.
PHILOSOPHY
At one level, the philosophy underlining programmes for the more able is essentially the same as that for all students
in a democracy, i.e. that each child should receive educational experience appropriate to his or her individual abilities,
interest and learning styles. Individual uniqueness should be respected and provided for and every effort should be
made to adapt learning experiences to the wide variety of student needs. The basic objective for these children’s
education is thus the same as that for other children – differing only in the greater emphasis placed on creative effort,
intellectual initiative, critical thinking, social adjustment, social responsibility and a development of unselfish qualities
of leadership if they are to achieve maximum self actualisation (Maslow, 1968). While these same objectives are
desirable for all children, they are essential for our more able if they are to achieve highly. If the school sees itself as
a hothouse for democracy, it treats the emerging citizens under its jurisdiction as whole people with differences in
needs, abilities and interest. The school’s problem is to cultivate both the development of special aptitudes and the
values, skills and knowledge which will equip every child to function adequately in a democratic society.
A differentiated curriculum embodies recognition of different learning rates, styles, interest, and abilities. Curriculum
differentiation aims at eliciting learner responses commensurate with gifts or talents. The seven principles which
follow are those which are suggested by Passow (1986). These are reiterated here to emphasise their function as a
guide to curriculum planners in selecting content, strategies, resources and the organisation of teaching and learning
for our more able children.
(1) The content of the curriculum for the more able should focus on and be organised to include more elaborate,
complex and in-depth study of major ideas, problems and themes that integrate knowledge with and across
systems of thought.
(2) It should allow for the development and application of productive thinking skills to allow students to
reconceptualise existing knowledge and generate new knowledge.
(3) It should enable them to explore constantly changing knowledge and information and to develop the attitudes
that knowledge is worth pursuing.
(4) It should provide for self-initiated and self-directed learning and growth.
(5) It should encourage exposure to, selection, and use of appropriate and specialised resources.
(6) It should provide for the development of self understanding and the understanding of one’s relationship to
persons, society, nature and culture.
(7) The evaluation of the curriculum should be conducted in accordance with prior stated principles, stressing
higher level thinking skills, creativity and excellence in both performance and product.
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The Challenge of the Able Child by David George
With respect to the principles of curriculum differentiation above – in determining whether a particular learning
opportunity is appropriate to our more able or whether it is equally appropriate for all, one should ask three questions:
Would all children want to be involved in such learning experiences? Could all children participate in such learning
experiences? Should all children be expected to succeed in such learning experiences?
The teacher of the more able is often called a facilitator of learning or a manager of resources. He/she is clearly
not just a dispenser of information. Perhaps a teacher is best described as a person responsible for arranging the
conditions for learning. The role of the teacher therefore is obviously crucial and, indeed, teachers’ salaries are
something like 65% of the educational budget. A teacher needs to be humble and admit at times to not knowing the
answers to all questions, and to seek help and support from within and outside the school. A teacher needs to be
flexible, to increase diversity of teaching methods, learning experiences and needs to respect, encourage and support
the able child. A keen sense of humour is an added bonus!
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
We need to organise the staff and material resources of the school to provide supporting guidance for children
who emerge as having special abilities and interests so that they may be taught the skills necessary to proceed to
independent or small problem solving study and research activities. There are considerable community resources
available in the community including parents, societies and organisation experts as well as linking up with industry,
commerce and colleges. So many teachers appear to be reluctant to invite in community people with specialist
knowledge who are willing to assist.
TOWARD A RATIONALE
Start early
We know that the environment begins to exert an influence on a child before birth. My own research suggests that
a favourable pre-birth environment will enhance intellectual growth and that the first three years of life are vitally
important in determining intellectual potential. This points to the need to provide optimum conditions for all children
from birth and we should not be satisfied until all children are born into homes where parents have the knowledge
and skills to meet all the needs of the growing child and are sufficiently affluent to do so. The experiences that a child
has in the early primary years seem to matter for the rest of life because of physical changes in the cortex which are
perhaps unchangeable, but deprivation cannot be solved by schools alone, the influence of the streets, TV, homes,
and youth organisations are crucial. Parent/school liaison is of the greatest importance and a difficult art. The school
should not undermine the dignity and authority of the parents with the children. Perhaps of the early years, 0 – 5 are
the most crucial, then the brain is undergoing maximum growth and is probably at its most plastic. This is when the
quality of the environment can be crucial (Brierley, 1978).
We have also to assume a wide talent pool because many children given the right conditions are, I believe, capable
of gifted behaviour. Particularly given the problems of effectiveness in recognising or identifying gifted children, the
talent pool should include all our children and not just the 25% who Renzulli (1987) would have us identify.
A New Model is Needed
The traditional model is that of defining who we are talking about, identifying the children and providing a special
programme. This new model should have as its basis the provision of a rich, stimulating experience which extends
all children to the highest potential of which they are capable in a climate which fosters creativity and allows some
freedom of choice. As gifted behaviour is observed to emerge under these conditions, the sensitive teachers and
school as well as the parent support will provide opportunities of further development.
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The Challenge of the Able Child by David George
Look at the Whole Child
The tendency in education, and this I suspect will increase, is to develop the cognitive areas of a child to the detriment
of the cultural, physical and the spiritual dimensions. For example, there is a growing interest in the idea that we can
all take more responsibility for our own health and a recognition of good health is more than freedom from disease or
infirmity. The idea of a holistic living programme is now the fastest growing and most important development in the
domain of health and healing. It is a programme of self-care in which a person is seen as a whole – body, mind and
spirit and the parts interrelated. Despite the tendency in schools for physical education to decline, I still believe in a
healthy mind and a healthy body. From whatever point of view one contemplates the educational scene, one sees at
once a marked division between the mind and of the spirit. Certain things are not quantifiable and with the emphasis
on cost effectiveness and efficiency we have to guard against the decline in the quality of life as a whole. As I see it
my mind has to do with my ability to deduce cause and effect, to follow a logical argument, to reason, to calculate,
to memorize facts, to infer and deduce. It is these attributes of man more than any others which has enabled us to
make Concorde, but also the nuclear bomb. My spirit is different. It has to do with my fears and joys, my enthusiasms
and apathies, my loves and hates. It is this side of my nature which, more than my mind, I think decides when I shall
release the bomb and whom I should kill with it. It accounts for the emotional mess in Northern Ireland as well as the
compassion of Oxfam. It accounts for the driving force of men like Ghandi and the whole army of creative people.
The differences between mind and spirit show themselves in simpler ways which are within our grasp in an average
classroom. There is, for example, a difference between the mechanical process of reading and the enjoyment of
what is read; between the mechanics of musical notation and sensitive playing and singing; between writing on a
prescribed topic from notes on a blackboard and telling someone in your own personal written words something
that has excited you; between lessons on perspective and giving a child the urge to draw or paint; it is the difference
between the teacher who tries to find out why the child is ill-behaved and remove the cause and the teacher who
ranks and grades children solely on their achievements and the one that makes allowances for handicaps and judges
effort; between the head of a school who sees the timetable and the framing of school rules as his main task and
the one who, by the use of recognition, expectation and encouragement, draws the best out of both colleagues and
pupils.
These differences could be allied to the differences between the Old and New Testament. The New Testament is less
concerned with the mind and the law, it proclaims that love is the fulfilling of the law, knowledge is not puffed up that
charity is edifying and that whosoever should defend one of these little ones etc. Of course one cannot divide
the curriculum into things of the mind and things of the spirit, but we should have this holistic approach that treats
the child as a whole person and in this context the spirituality of the child is as vital as its health and cognitive
development. These children often race through the normal school curriculum and are thirsting for more. Not more of
the same but genuine enrichment and extension. This holistic model curriculum does this and helps them prepare for
life and for living in the modern world.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I have tried to take the emphasis away from gifted and talented children and instead to focus on the
more precise concept of gifted behaviour. I have attempted to point out some of the essential elements of gifted
behaviour and some of the important considerations for its emergence and development. Above all I have suggested
that given favourable circumstances the whole child is developed, then many children may display gifted behaviour
and this is good practice.
Dr David George is one man who has done the most to raise the profile of gifted and talented children in the
UK and around the world and Independent Thinking is delighted that he has chosen to become one of our
Associates. He is the author of The Challenge of the Able Child and Young, Gifted and Bored
For more information on Dr David George and Independent Thinking please visit www.independentthinking.co.uk,
e-mail us on [email protected] or call us on 0844 589 0490.
© Independent Thinking Ltd 2010
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