Well-known education and psychology experts advocate “academic talent training”

Well-known education and psychology experts advocate “academic talent training”

Professor Frank Worrell is a Distinguished Professor of Education and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, July 30, 2024 – Education is evolving rapidly, and the School of Education (SoE) at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, continues to lead the way in shaping the future of learning. On April 11, 2024, the SoE hosted its second virtual public lecture, which attracted 124 participants from a variety of educational backgrounds to explore the topic of “Why I prefer ‘academic talent development’ to ‘gifted education’” presented by UC Berkeley Professor Frank Worrell.

Professor Worrell Professor Worrell, a renowned education and psychology expert, captivated the audience with his profound knowledge and expertise. With over 300 scholarly publications and endorsements from prestigious organizations such as the American Educational Research Association and the American Psychological Association, his insights were highly anticipated and did not disappoint.

In the lecture, Professor Worrell explored the complexity of the development of academic talent, challenged traditional views on talent, and introduced innovative models for cultivating academic excellence. Key topics included strategies for motivating gifted students, promoting inclusiveness in education, and understanding the interaction between inherent ability and environmental factors.

Professor Worrell identified four common views on giftedness. They are “gift is a trait”, “gift is IQ”, “gifted people are good at everything”, and “gift is the result of practice”. He then delved into why he prefers gifted development over gifted education. While he acknowledges the importance of practice in gifted development, he emphasizes that practice needs to be combined with ability because, in his view, practice is necessary but not sufficient. To this end, he hypothesized a classroom scenario:

“In many cases, teachers will schedule a portion of the day for pull-out instruction and then do project-based learning based on the arts, sciences, and various topics. These projects are usually related to the teacher’s knowledge. So if the teacher is very good at writing, they will have writing-based exercises. But again, the kids they have doing writing exercises may be very gifted in math…”

He describes learning as the result of a journey of talent development, noting, “We start as children with ability or potential. We don’t know what that potential will become as adults. That’s what education is for, and that’s what training and mentoring is for. We move from ability and potential to competence and ultimately to expertise. Think about expertise because that’s what talent is as an adult.”

He recognizes the need to provide opportunities for low-income individuals, as many parents may not be able to afford the resources necessary for gifted development. He also outlines the diversity of students that exists in most gifted education programs:

“In many of our gifted education programs, we have kids who have high opportunities and high motivation. One of the things we need to do is give kids who have high motivation but low opportunities the opportunity to develop their talents. For kids who have high opportunities but low motivation, we need to increase their motivation. And for kids who have low opportunities and low motivation, psychologists have to do a lot of work with them to prepare them to work hard and succeed.”

The lecture was thought-provoking and was followed by a fascinating discussion between Professor Worrell and the audience on topics such as how to motivate students, whether the education system in Trinidad and Tobago is maximizing the talent of the population, how academic talent development can promote inclusion and equity compared to traditional gifted education programs, what measures the authorities need to consider to ensure that students/parents without resources have the opportunity to promote talent development, and whether most gifted people are born or learned; and which influence is greater, nature or nurture.

Dr Rawatee Maharaj-Sharma, Dean of the Faculty of Education, expressed her satisfaction with the lecture. She said that the lecture provided educators and teachers with “an opportunity to address the academic, psychological, psychosocial and non-cognitive needs of a wider range of learners”. She said that the lecture helped to raise awareness and provoke reflection, which is one of the goals of the Faculty of Education’s Public Lecture Series.

Looking ahead, SoE is excited to continue its intellectual journey, with the next event scheduled for April 2025. Committed to fostering a vibrant community dedicated to advancing education worldwide, SoE remains at the forefront of educational innovation and excellence.

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source:

Petronetta Pierre Robertson

Chair of the Publications and Outreach Committee (POLC)

University of the West Indies, School of Education (St. Augustine)

Editor’s note.