Masaryk University experts will be helping in developing gifted children
Experts from the Faculty of Education and Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University in Brno intend to help gifted children develop their abilities. As the attention paid to the gifted children in the Czech Republic has been insufficient so far, the Masaryk University launched a project aimed at talented pupils of primary schools, as well as at their teachers, in the South Moravian Region.
Experts assume there are approximately two to three per cent of exceptionally gifted pupils in the population, which means that there are thousands of them at schools in the Czech Republic. However, only 205 exceptionally gifted students were identified in South Moravia, and only 1088 nationwide in the 2010/2011 school year. “In effect, only a small fraction of these students get the opportunity to develop their talents properly. We would like to change this,” states the project leader, Sarka Portesova from the Institute for Research of Children, Youth, and Families at the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University. She also added that talent is not always obvious, and there are gifted children whose talents are not recognized even by their nearest and dearest.
Two educational programmes helping them to develop their above average talents will be launched. “We are preparing programmes which will be implemented directly at the participating schools, as well as special activities, during which the Faculty of Education students are going to work with the children,” said Ruzena Blazkova from the Department of Mathematics of the Faculty of Education. She herself, together with her colleagues, co-operates with the Kridlovicka Primary School, and they intend to begin co-operation with other schools in the region as well. The other project will be devoted to the development of the social skills of gifted pupils.
Yet another part of the project takes the teachers into focus. We would like to provide them with more information in the field of identification, specifics of the gifted children, as well as with risks associated with unsuitable methods of educating them, says Portesova. In her experience, some teachers tend to confuse truly gifted students with those who are just active and perform their tasks diligently.
For this reason, two new on-line courses focused on the identification and development of talented pupils will be created, which will help the teachers with both the didactic and psychological parts of their job. From July onwards, a web portal, www.nadanizaci.cz, will be available (only in Czech language), where the teachers will be able to find relevant and verified information. The entire project, called MU Centre for Gifted Children Development in the South Moravian Region, is funded by the European Social Fund and by the state budget of the Czech Republic. The total funding is 5.5 million CZK.
Related topics
24.5.2013