Alwyn Poole
alwynpoole.substack.com
Alwyn Poole founded and was the head of Mt Hobson Middle School in Auckland for 18 years. MH Academy is now an in person private school for Year 11 – 13. There is now a nationwide online provision called Mt Hobson Academy Connected for Years 1 – 13.
The words genius, talent and giftedness need to be redefined, for the good of children, every field of human endeavour and the inspiration of adults.
Much of the theory on the development of “gifted and talented” children is problematic. Firstly the concept of talent, including IQ, as being fixed. Secondly, the emphasis is often not on the welfare of children but the gratification of their parents or the benefit of sports institutions (or schools).
There should also be huge concern about the effects of labelling – both on those included under the labels and those excluded. Most importantly, regardless of the starting point, I cannot find a single example of a human performing at an exceptional level in any field that has not worked extraordinarily hard to get there, been through many struggles, shown great sense of purpose and remarkable resilience.
In recent years there has been a significant change in our understanding of the human brain and the development of ability. To name a few influential thinkers there is Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck and her growth mindset work, Matthew Syed (Bounce, and now – a children’s book – You Are Awesome) and Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers, David and Goliath). Syed wove his first book, Bounce, around the 10,000 hours concept and has meshed his recent work into Dweck’s mindset concepts.
The ideas are important for every human. They have the ability to develop exceptional skill and knowledge sets but to do so requires guidance, many hours of purposeful practise and opportunities to attempt things and respond to both failures and successes.
At present, there is huge concern about the mental well-being of young people and adults. The understanding that abilities are grown over time, that “talent” is developed and is available to us all in some form – is mind-changing for young people and for the enhancement of their opportunities in life.
Classroom teachers change from being ability categorisers and brain fillers to genuine developers of aspirational humans. The length of time it actually takes to become good at a complex skill also changes the approach of sports academies. Instead of “talent identification” they can become developers of ability with a much healthier approach to young people. Above all – it gives young people hope about themselves.
We need to understand that “genius” is something that can be developed. State schools and other institutions should still be providing for young people who already have a high degree of developed ability. There is no downside to this. But in doing so they need to emphasise the need to keep taking risks, seeing failure as a stepping stone, and eliminate the negatives of labelling. It is about the child not the future of the school or sporting code.
Things are changing. I once spent a day with the great Arthur Lydiard. I asked him if times had changed so much that no great distance runners would come from anywhere but Kenya and if it was genetically based. Arthur adamantly stated that laziness was the only thing holding many back. I am convinced it is also the messaging people receive.
In 2016 I texted author Matthew Syed while watching the London Marathon and asked why the commentators were using the word talent in every sentence and not dedication, years of development, diet, discipline, coaching, and resilience to setbacks. Watching this year’s London marathon the word talent was barely mentioned – the other things were.
These concepts are inspirational for adults too. If you were told as a child that you didn’t have a musical bone in your body – they were wrong – Syed’s book You Are Awesome tells your inner child so.
