Displaying items by tag: supporting

Both creativity and talent are defined in many different ways. This paper provides a valuable insight into how talented Romanian students are currently being identified and their talents nurtured, as perceived mainly by school counsellors. Their recommendations and those of the authors are highly relevant for anyone interested in improving educational provision for highly creative and talented students.

Abstract

The identification of high potential for creative achievement as an integrated part of talent, and nurturing it, have always been significant challenges for education. We aim to explore how educationists perceive talent and strategies for its promotion in the Romanian cultural and socio-economic environments. To achieve a first image on this topic, we investigated school counsellors' perceptions on talent promotion inside the Romanian formal educational system. Thus, our approach was indirect, exploring the situation of the practices regarding talent in our country, through the lens of the professionals, as reflected in their current activity.

Our survey focused on the following issues: identification of talent, teacher training in the psycho-pedagogy of excellence, types of special programs and their impact, and general educational context. Results suggest that practices regarding talent identification and development tend to differ from one region to another, indicating the lack of an integrated, coherent and unitary methodology. Respondents suggest that cognitive dimensions have priority, with great importance granted to academic results, achievement in national and international contests and nominations from teachers. Among existing activities aimed at promoting talent, the non-formal seem to be most appreciated. School counsellors point to the fact that initial training in this domain is insufficient and that the educational offer is scarce. The research results also point to the crucial task of integrating the complex concept of talent, with all its components including creativity, into workable teaching and counselling applications.

Keywords: creativity, talent, creativity-supporting environment, education