Education for the Gifted Taking Off
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
With South Korea paying keener attention to the education of more talented and gifted children these days, questions are how this particular kind of special education can be successful. According to an Israeli expert, it's a matter of specially training teachers in the area.
In an interview with The Korea Times, Baruch Nevo, professor of psychology at the University of Haifa, stressed the importance of recruiting and training eligible teachers to carry through programs that are right for children gifted in various fields, from mathematics to sports.
He said that gifted education is booming all over the world demanding eligible teachers equipped with three requirements:
``First, the teachers for the special education need experience. Second, they need to be well trained for the talented children. Third, they should be more than average teachers in terms of mental competitiveness although they don't need to be gifted,'' he said.
Nova concurrently serves as a co-director of the Center for Research in Peace Education and the National Council of Higher Education in Haifa, and a committee member for gifted education at the Ministry of Education in Israel.
He visited Seoul in his capacity as counselor for the Institute for Talented Education that opened last Tuesday. The institute under the Korean Federation of Teachers' Association aims to develop its national core of human resources by maximizing each student's potential with the institute.
To achieve the ambitious goal, it will introduce several projects such as the development of gifted education, promoting the professionalism of teachers and support for school enrichment courses.
Nevo has introduced the special programs for elite students there.
``In my town, the top five percent students every year are identified for special classes,'' he said. ``Not every child is admitted in the group as some parents don't want (it). Parents and children need to agree on joining the classes.''
He said that the special classes offer much more challenging and positive experiences for the top students than normal education.
``Some talented children question their teachers too much. Those children can be rebellious and misbehave when their questions are not properly answered,'' he said. ``The selected students can join in enrichment programs for one day per week, sometimes after school or during summer vacation.''
Asked about possible complaints from parents whose children fail selection for the special classes, the professor said cultural and social background should be considered when setting up an education system for elite students.
Regarding English learning for Korean gifted students, Nova said this was important for international competitiveness, but that this should be up to them.
``Children talented in mathematics, art and music would grow internationally with high-level English skills. But it is their choice whether to put more effort into developing their talent or English skills. It is a matter of choice for the children,'' he said.