Gagne talks about Talent Development
On 31 August 2010 Francois Gagne spoke at an event organised and sponsored by the Student Services Department of the Catholic Education Office, Melbourne. Michael Bond attended this event and wrote the following thoughts about Gagne's talk...
“Talent development is bringing high potential into high achievement”
In August last year I sat in a lecture theatre in Melbourne and soaked up as much as I could about giftedness. I was listening to Professor Gagne sharing his knowledge about this field. For some twenty-five years he has been one of the leading researchers and advocates of this field of education. I felt somewhat humbled to be in the room and privileged to be listening to his thoughts and opinions.
His presentation started with an introduction of his Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (D.G.M.T), which is a model I was familiar with. Throughout the presentation we were able to see how he had tweaked the model over time and how other researchers have influenced his view on parts of the model. It was nothing short of fascinating.
I was particularly captivated by the second half of his presentation, which focused on talent development. I was unfamiliar with this term, but wanted to know more. Gagne initially explained it simply: “Talent development is bringing high potential into high achievement.” And so began a whole new way of thinking about gifted and talented education.
Professor Gagne introduced talent development as field that has been around for many years. He pointed out that it is common practice in the fields of sport and art. As an athlete, I was familiar with this concept. In track and field we have development squads, talent identification coaches, personalised training programs and much more. Programs are in place to ensure that an athlete reaches their potential.
Gagne presented the view, “Any child has the right to develop their potential to the maximum.” He noted that real academic talent development currently and often falls short of what it should for gifted students.
So what is talent development in a school setting? Gagne said, “Academic talent development is the transformation of outstanding intellectual gifts into outstanding academic talent.” He even argued that gifted and talented teachers should really be known as academic talent development teachers. I personally resonated with this idea. As a teacher who strives to help each individual reach their own unique potential the concept of an academic development teacher sounded like a perfect fit for me.
Gagne presented the current reality of academic talent development is currently pull-out programs or regular classroom enrichment. Unfortunately, Gagne was unable to fully justify either strategy.
Pull-out programs typically do not touch the regular curriculum, whereas classroom enrichment often provide some enrichment in density and diversity and is often given to “occupy” the fast learners. Gagne shared research that concluded enrichment is very infrequent and at best is once a week. Furthermore, enrichment in the regular classroom often has little variation to what is offered to high and average teachers. Gagne himself said, “enrichment in the regular classroom is a mission impossible” and concluded “it is very tough.”
Hearing Gagne conclude that enrichment is a mission impossible and very tough task inspired me. I am challenged daily to provide enrichment opportunities for gifted students in my class. Some days I feel like a failure and others I walk away feeling competent. Differentiation is challenging and is tough, but it is also necessary.
Gagne presented five key features for an academic talent development program:
1. An enriched curriculum
2. Long-term excellence goals
3. Selective access
4. Merit-based assessment
5. Personalised pacing
Gagne said it is a priority to enrich in density, but also in difficulty, depth and diversity.
In a paper, “Ten Commandments for Academic Talent Development,” Gagne presented a strategy to assist in the development of an effective talent development program:
1. Thou Shalt Distinguish … Horizontally!
2. Thou Shalt Discriminate … Vertically!
3. Thou Shalt Identify … Multicomponently!
4. Thou Shalt Select … Armsopenly!
5. Thou Shalt Intervene … Earliestly!
6. Thou Shalt Condense … Foremostly!
7. Thou Shalt Accelerate … Asneededly!
8. Thou Shalt Enrich … Relevantly!
9. Thou Shalt Group … Fulltimely!
10. Thou Shalt Dream … Eyeswideopenly!
I am left concluding that talent development looks different in every school. I am also aware that every school will have its own set of unique challenges when implementing an effective talent development program.
References:
Gagné, F. (2007). Ten commandments for academic talent development. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51, 93.
Gagné, F. (2010, August). The DGMT: Building talent on the foundations of giftedness. Presented at Genazzano FCJ College, Sponsored by the Student Services Department of the Catholic Education Office, Melbourne, VIC.
Article by Michael Bond
Michael Bond is the Gifted and Talented Education Coordinator in the Junior School (K-6) at Oxley College and is Vice President of the VAGTC.
