E. G. Warren
Expecting the Unexpected : (Practical
Experiences of Developing Courses
for Able Pupils 10-18 yers old)
Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Psychologica 1, 153-159
F O LIA PSY C H O L O G IC A 1, 1997
E. G. W A R R E N E xtra Studies D epartm ent Philip M o ran t School Colchester, E ngland C 0 3 4QS
EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED
(Practical Experiences of Developing Courses for Able Pupils 10-18 years old)
INTRODUCTION
This paper summarises some personal experiences o f the au th o r in the developm ent o f prvision for able pupils 10-18 years old including courses held for G IF T (U.K.), B IL D U N G und B E G A B U N G (prom oted by the G erm an Federal M inistry o f E ducation) and the E U R O P E A N C O U N C IL for H IG H A BILITY .
RATIONALE
1. G ifted individuals have through their im agination, creativity and inventiveness brought ab o ut the innovations and paradigm changes vital to any developm ent o f hum an civilization. I assume th at hum an civilization still needs a lot o f development.
2. It has been argued th a t there is m ore than one kind o f hum an intelligence (W einreich-Haste 1984).
3. General experience with gifted children repeatedly shows th at they respond badly to routine tasks and th at they prefer challenging open-ended problem solving approaches.
154 E. G. W arren
SE L E C T IO N O F ABLE P U P IL S
G IF T E D C H IL D R E N : A T E A C H E R ’S CH EC K LIST (Gifted Children...) Exceptionally able children are likely to show the following charac teristics. A child showing m ost characteristics on the checklist, b u t n o t those starred, is likely to be a gifted child who is underachieving educa tionally.
1. Possess superior powers o f reasoning, o f dealing with abstractions, o f generalizing from specific facts, o f understanding meanings, and o f seeing into relationships.
2. H ave great intellectual curiosity. 3. Learn easily and readily*. 4. H ave a wide range o f interests.
5. H ave a b ro ad attention span th a t enables them to concentrate on, and persevere in solving and pursuing interests.
6. Are superior in the quantity and quality o f vocabulary as com pared with children o f their own age.
7. H ave ability to do effective w ork independently.
8. H ave learned to read early (often well before school age)*. 9. Exhibit keen powers o f observation.
10. Show initiative and originality in intellectual work. 11. Show alertness and quick response to new ideas. 12. Are able to memorize quickly.
13. H ave great interest in the nature o f m an and the universe. 14. Possess unusual im agination.
15. Follow complex directions easily. 16. Are rapid readers*.
17. H ave several hobbies.
18. H ave reading interests which cover a wide range o f subjects*. 19. M ake frequent and effective use o f the library*.
20. Are superior in m athem atics, particularly in problem solving*. „In discovering the n ature and traits o f the gifted, several general points should be kept in m ind. The first is th at these children differ as m uch am ongst themselves as children o f ordinary abilities. There is no such thing as a typical gifted child. N o child w ould be a composite o f all the traits and characteristics. A gifted child usually shows a range o f abilities within his (her) own profile; he (she) m ay be outstanding in one trait and less distinguished in others, or his (her) abilities m ay be quite uniformly superior” (H ildreth a t al. 1952).
„Perform ance on one or m ore tests o f general intelligence has been the m ost widely used criterion o f giftedness” (Gifted Children...).
„In recent years a dissatisfaction with criteria o f ability implicit in the usual intelligence tests has led to m any attem pts to identify creativity as a factor which is relatively independent o f intelligence” (iGifted Child
ren...).
Because o f the difficulties in identification a com bination o f techniques are used:
a) Verbal and non verbal I.Q. scores.
b) A teacher’s checklist based on the checklist above. c) C hildren’s comm ents ab ou t themselves and their abilities.
d) Teaching staff recom m endations based upon observed originality, inventiveness, creativity, and even bizarre im agination.
e) The experiences of staff introducing pupils to Problem Solving Thinking and Philosophy.
Finally it is policy to accept, for a trial period, any pupil who may express a serious interest in taking part.
P R O V IS IO N O F C O U R SES T O P R O M O T E ABLE P U P IL S
Objectives 1. E ducational
a) To facilitate the developm ent o f ability and confidence in problem solving.
b) To facilitate the developm ent o f ability and confidence in academic a n d /o r practical skills.
c) To increase success in accessing and retrieving inform ation. d) To increase ability in responsible criticism.
e) To offer the freedom to range across and beyond the standard school curricula.
f) T o increase facility in com m unication.
g) To stim ulate developm ent o f im agination and creativity.
h) To facilitate enjoym ent in research, enquiry, debate and achievement. 2. Social
a) To provide contact with specialists, organisations etc. outside the imm ediate sphere o f education.
b) To experience the response o f individuals, the media, interest groups etc. to the results o f their own work.
c) To develop respect for different points o f view. d) To develop activities and responsibilities in society.
156 E. G. W arren
f) To develop the ability to w ork in groups or alone in responsible and constructive ways.
g) To increase their confidence in being able to contribute to society, as well as gain m ore from society in w hatever field o f endeavour they may find themselves.
h) To be happy and fulfilled.
Exam ples o f courses carried out a t Philip M o ra n t school between 1992-1994.
M ost pupils attend introductory courses in Problem Solving Thinking and Philosophy to encourage them in im aginative and creative processes.
The following courses were then developed in negotiation with the pupils as it was hoped th at their interests w ould give some indication o f their individual abilities.
1. Designing a guide for new pupils to the school.
2. Designing and developing an experimental school conservation area. 3. Planning and planting a w ood o f 1,800 trees in the Gosbecks Archaeological Park.
4. Gliding with lectures and training flights given by the Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club.
5. Organising a ‘Lam b S aturday’ allowing visitors to observe lam bing on a farm and to raise m oney for anim al charities.
6. Japanese lessons given by staff from the University o f Essex. 7. Cam ping and Conservation w ork on a Suffolk Farm .
8. H olding 3-day program m es o f Curriculum Extension Courses in conjunction with G IF T Ltd.
9. Producing an A nthology o f Literature concerning A nim al Welfare. 10. Setting up a system to recycle alum inium cans.
11. O riental Studies including the Philosophy o f Buddhism. 12. GEST funded coutses in Science and M aths.
13. To take over and run an allotm ent for a year to grow vegetables. 14. Creative W riting Courses.
15. W ord Processing Course.
16. Course funded by N E EB EP to prom ote prim ary school pupils e.g. In troductory Courses and then building their own m odel U topia for infant pupils.
17. W riting, Rehearsing and perform ing a conservation comedy called ‘Igpop and Rosie’.
18. Designing and carrying out a three day survival course.
In addition constant p astoral care is provided on an individual basis as and when appropriate.
ALL CO U R SES A R E V O L U N T A R Y A N D T A K E PLA C E IN SC H O OL BUT IN T H E P U P IL ’S OW N T IM E. However, there are now concerted
efforts to introduce differentiated m aterials into the classroom during the norm al school tim etable for pupils o f proven ability in Britain.
In the introductory courses great emphasis is laid upon encouraging pupils to feel confident in saying anything they like as long as it is honestly m eant. They learn th at they are n o t going to be laughed at for w hat m ight appear to be ‘o d d ’, ‘w eird’, or ‘bizarre’ b u t rather th at they can have fun and laugh with each other a t amusing an d /o r unexpected contributions.
F o r example we use a Problem Solving Course called IM PA C T by S. Baines M . A. Im pacts is an easily rem embered acronym for the essential stages in successful problem solving, namely:
I Interpret M More information P Possibilities A Assess С Change T Test
s
StrategySome examples o f the statem ents the pupils enjoy interpreting are: 1. The king played chess with comm oners.
2. List all your employees broken down by sex.
3. D o n ’t ruin your b ath with your scratchy cleaning powder, use ours instead.
4. This tom bstone was erected in loving m em ory o f W illiam Johnson who was drow ned on N ovem ber 22nd by m em bers o f his family.
A nother introductory course developed out o f an exercise to encourage the pupils to debate their ideas where it soon became apparent th at the twelve year old pupils were philosophising ab o u t ethics. T he au th o r, rem embering th a t one should never underestim ate their abilities, read out summaries o f the ethical philosophies o f m ajor schools o f Greek pre-Christian philosophy i.e. Socrates/Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, The Cynics, The Stoics etc. W ithin 10-15 m inutes in each case these pupils h ad used a large num ber o f the m ajor philosophical criticism applied by other philosophers to the original schools o f thought!
Some examples o f general comm ents m ade by the original pupils were: 1. „Y ou are n o t like a norm al teacher. Y ou d o n ’t tell us w hat to think ” . 2. „C an we suggest some topics next?”
3. „D o you m ind if we carry on by ourselves after you have left?” 4. „A re we going to be able to do this next year as well?”
5. „N o I have n o t discussed this sort o f thing with anybody else b ut I often think ab o ut things like this” .
6. „X will n o t listen to us” .
158 E. G. W arren
H aving their ideas taken seriously, and contributing to the negotiated decision(s) o f w hat to do and in which direction(s) to expand, allows pupils to identify strongly with their extension activities. This activity hopefully competes with other less useful attractions e.g. too m uch pop music or too m any television soap operas.
R ESID EN TIA L C O U R SES F O R ABLE P U P IL S
R esidential Courses, for example those run by G IF T (U .K .) and B IL D U N G und B E G A B U N G (G E R M A N Y ), have significant advantages in th at the pupils are free from distractions, m eet new individuals like themselves (sometimes for the first time), and students can really investigate a topic in depth (in the case o f the G erm an Courses over a two to three week period). F o r example one course we developed considered the develop m ent o f U top ia from Plato to the present and then allowed the students time to develop their own ideas on aspects o f U topia. As this course was residential we were then able to develop ideas for a debating evening for the whole academ y which was subsequently held. On another occasion a group o f pupils was introduced to philosophy and then encouraged to investigate a field o f philosophy o f their own choosing. In the evenings they rehearsed and perform ed plays in French, English and on in Russian w ritten by one o f the participants. However, these courses usually have to be developed w ithout detailed knowledge o f the participants and it is then difficult to follow and prom ote the participants once the particular course has finished. Ideally this w ould be done in conjunction with provision for very able individuals in schools and universities. G IF T Ltd. in E ngland has now a collection o f several hundred descriptions o f one day extension courses for very able pupils b o th in prim ary and secondary schools which have been repeatedly tried out and tested and found to be successful.
SU M M A RY O F S O M E G EN ERA L P R IN C IP L E S FO U N D U SEFU L F O R M A KING P R O V IS IO N F O R ABLE P U P IL S IN SC H O O L S
1. Provide a happy, relaxed and inform al atm osphere.
2. Encourage and prom ote im aginative flights o f fancy (no m atter how odd or bizarre).
3. P rom ote practical and theoretical creativity.
4. Encourage h um o ur (seeing the funny side o f things themselves). 5. Offer a wide m enu o f open ended activities.
6. N egotiate with the pupils when suitable.
7. Join in the learning experience with the pupils when possible. 8. Ideas originating with the pupils should be taken seriously if m eant honestly.
9. Encourage, where appropriate, input and co-operation with experts outside the form al education establishment. Examples could be authors, scientists, charity groups, industrialists, the m edia etc.
10. Expect unexpected abilities or unexpected scope within an identified ability. In fact one should try to m ake provision for these pupils a vehicle for unearthing unexpected abilities.
REFERENCES
W e i n r e i c h - H a s t e H . (1984), A M ultiplicity o f Intelligences, „N ew Scientist” , 1413, 19-22
Gifted Children and Their Education, (1977), A D ES Publication. U .K .
H i l d r e t h G. H . et. al. (1952), Educating Gifted Children at Hunter College Elementary
School, H arper R on., New Y ork
E. G. Warren
OCZEKUJĄCY NIEOCZEKIWANEGO
Treścią artykułu jest podsum ow anie doświadczeń wyniesionych z pracy z uczniam i wybitnie uzdolnionym i w Anglii i Niemczech oraz porów nanie ich z doświadczeniami poczynionym i przez Europejską R adę ds. Dzieci W ybitnie Zdolnych. W tym celu przygotow ano i przedłożono badanym listy twierdzeń zawierających różne w artości i dążenia życiowe, które badani mogli przyjąć za własne lub je odrzucić.
