Editor’s note: The 2021 National Association for Gifted Children convention’s closing session posed the following question to a group of panelists: “During this time of unprecedented change, what words of insight and inspiration do you have for gifted educators and advocates as they leave our convention and return to districts and schools?”
The following is the response given by Dr. Richard Olenchak of Purdue University and is published here with his permission.
Gifted/talent development/high ability education today feels a lot like Dickens’ representation of the era of the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities. While global society desperately needs to facilitate the blossoming of human abilities in all domains (which is the best of times), we continue to debate what giftedness means and how to identify it (which is the worst of times).
While the field continues to employ laudable research to spotlight approaches useful for enhancing equity of opportunity in gifted and talent development education (which is the age of wisdom), there nonetheless are indeed other works that harken to the bad old days of elite programs that were restricted to but a few (which is the age of foolishness).
And while mounting evidence contributes to an understanding that equitable educational services to nurture talent for the many are not only necessary but fair (which is the epoch of belief), many a naysayer refuses to acknowledge any evidence about the benefits of gifted education, leading to more than a few proposals to eliminate school gifted programs altogether (which is the epoch of incredulity).
In this current day of what feels like a never-ending buffet of antitheses about most anything and everything, those of us who care deeply about maximizing the individual development of all human beings inevitably are ridden with angst, often forced into defensive positions where we must demonstrate why society needs gifted/talent development/high ability education, we had best sweep our torment away and get busy adjusting the narrative about giftedness — and quickly.
I challenge NAGC to serve as a catalyst to lead a large-scale effort involving researchers, teachers, counselors, psychologists, parents, community members, and students themselves to create clear, equitable definitions, field-tested strategies, and approaches for expanding what it means to educate all children and youth with an eye toward helping them maximize their strengths while de-accentuating their weaknesses — that remarkable talent outcomes are feasible for many more individuals than our myopia has heretofore enabled us to see. In this day of technology, it should not be an impossible feat to involve large numbers of people in a congress of study that leads to action — action within one year to define the field in a manner that influences all of education.
To scaffold my wish, I ask gifted education advocates from all walks of life to express support for this effort by emailing me at olenchak@purdue.edu. And I am personally volunteering to work with others in any way NAGC sees as helpful to bring this initiative to fruition. We must define ourselves for a world that needs talent in all disciplines, and we must advocate for an educational system that fosters optimal talent development in each and every individual.
In other words — the words of Dickens in his conclusion of A Tale of Two Cities, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known.”
Education must mean setting aside narrow definitions about who is entitled to an education that is inspiring, interest-based, and talent-driven; such an educational environment would yield the best possible results for all learners. I only hope that we can bequeath every future student such a necessary legacy.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.
Gifted/talent development/high ability education today feels a lot like Dickens’ representation of the era of the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities. While global society desperately needs to facilitate the blossoming of human abilities in all domains (which is the best of times), we continue to debate what giftedness means and how to identify it (which is the worst of times).
While the field continues to employ laudable research to spotlight approaches useful for enhancing equity of opportunity in gifted and talent development education (which is the age of wisdom), there nonetheless are indeed other works that harken to the bad old days of elite programs that were restricted to but a few (which is the age of foolishness).
And while mounting evidence contributes to an understanding that equitable educational services to nurture talent for the many are not only necessary but fair (which is the epoch of belief), many a naysayer refuses to acknowledge any evidence about the benefits of gifted education, leading to more than a few proposals to eliminate school gifted programs altogether (which is the epoch of incredulity).
In this current day of what feels like a never-ending buffet of antitheses about most anything and everything, those of us who care deeply about maximizing the individual development of all human beings inevitably are ridden with angst, often forced into defensive positions where we must demonstrate why society needs gifted/talent development/high ability education, we had best sweep our torment away and get busy adjusting the narrative about giftedness — and quickly.
I challenge NAGC to serve as a catalyst to lead a large-scale effort involving researchers, teachers, counselors, psychologists, parents, community members, and students themselves to create clear, equitable definitions, field-tested strategies, and approaches for expanding what it means to educate all children and youth with an eye toward helping them maximize their strengths while de-accentuating their weaknesses — that remarkable talent outcomes are feasible for many more individuals than our myopia has heretofore enabled us to see. In this day of technology, it should not be an impossible feat to involve large numbers of people in a congress of study that leads to action — action within one year to define the field in a manner that influences all of education.
To scaffold my wish, I ask gifted education advocates from all walks of life to express support for this effort by emailing me at olenchak@purdue.edu. And I am personally volunteering to work with others in any way NAGC sees as helpful to bring this initiative to fruition. We must define ourselves for a world that needs talent in all disciplines, and we must advocate for an educational system that fosters optimal talent development in each and every individual.
In other words — the words of Dickens in his conclusion of A Tale of Two Cities, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known.”
Education must mean setting aside narrow definitions about who is entitled to an education that is inspiring, interest-based, and talent-driven; such an educational environment would yield the best possible results for all learners. I only hope that we can bequeath every future student such a necessary legacy.
