Interim Report for ESCalate

Project proposer: Angela Jaap

Institution: University of Glasgow
Project Title: The Education of Gifted and Talented Children in Music

Overview
This project forms a part of my PhD research which is looking at how classroom teachers
recognise and accommodate gifted and talented children within the music class.
Conceptualisation of gift and talent tends to be perceived in elitist terms and this can affect
how we think about musical gift and how we subsequently identify and accommodate gifted
and talented children within the mainstream music classroom. Identification of gift and talent
is also made more difficult by the lack of appropriate models of identification which could be
used in the classroom. This research holds the potential to impact upon music teachers
recognition of musical ability in their pupils, and to extend our understanding of how
identification can take place. It also has the potential to enhance our understanding of how
teachers can develop and nurture talent in a practical context.

The funding received from Escalate supported the completion of my first PhD chapter which
outlines 3 broad conceputalisations of talent identification in the work of Gagn, Renzulli and
Winstanley. The funding has helped with the numerous costs which accrued in the process of
collating research data. It has also supported the dissemination of my initial findings for the
chapter and enabled me to attend conferences to hear Gagn and Winstanley speak about
their work. Dissemination has taken place to fellow students and staff at the University of
Glasgow through our Graduate School conferences, where I discussed my research findings
and my methodology for the study. The conference attendance has been in Glasgow (Scottish
Network for Able Pupils) and in Warwick (International Council for the Gifted). Both of
these events has enabled me to establish key contacts within my research field and broadened
my own knowledge of this field of study into considering issues surrounding the
measurement of gift and talent.

Early research findings: identification and measurement of gift

One of the major aims of this project was to complete the first chapter of my PhD, which was
achieved in December 2007. This chapter focussed upon the more generalised terms of gift
and talent, studying the conceptualisations of three researchers currently active within this
field: Francoys Gagn, who deems gift as an innate, natural attribute developed into a

processed talent; Joseph Renzulli, who considers potentially gifted and talent children and
consequently in the access to enriching activities and Carrie Winstanley who is of the opinion
that appropriate provision should be made for all children within their compulsory schooling,
regardless of ability.

The work of Gagn and Renzulli could be seen as falling within the nature / nurture debate.
Gagn considers gift to be a raw entity which has a degree of genetic predisposition. His
belief is that this raw attribute is developed through some form of repetitive learning
process (in maturational and formal educational terms) and is open to influence from what he
terms as a trio of catalysts environmental, intrinsic and chance. The process of
identification for Gagn is normatively based in that a natural ability emerges within the
course of development or learning experience. Identification or recognition of gift requires an
active demonstration of skills rather than a test situation, indeed, Gagn argues that the only
entity which should be measured is the developed talent. As talent is the assessment of an
outstanding performance, normative measures can be utilised from an early age, for example
through music competitions, exams or any other summative opportunities.

Similarly, Renzulli is of the opinion that talent is indeed developed through formal and
informal educational experiences (although his own contribution is heavily orientated
towards developing talent in a school environment). He is of the opinion that test scores are
an inappropriate means of identifying as they do not take account of the contributions which
individuals can make. Indeed, Renzulli notes that individuals who do not attain the threshold
score can still perform at an advanced level in other areas. He therefore establishes a talent
pool consisting of children identified as potentially gifted individuals. Identified through
various assessments, observations and nominations from an array of sources, these pupils
have access to specialist resources and experiences to ignite interest and uncover ability
which may be otherwise unnoticed.

The views of Winstanley tend less towards identification and measurement of talent and more
towards why talent may remain hidden and unidentified. Her interpretation acknowledges
that we all have ability, yet provisions and various other factors such as behavioural problems
or disability can lead to some degree of masked ability. She considers that teachers and
education have a moral obligation to ensure that children, more so these masked or
underachieving gifted, are provided with the opportunities to ensure that they are able to
engage in learning to their own level.

Further explorations
The content of this chapter has ranged across the fields of philosophy, psychology and
pedagogy. This has resulted in some fascinating issues to be highlighted issues which
consequently have implications for the musical aspect of my study. From the analysis of the
work of the researchers, the four key areas of interest are:

The role of the teacher, including their own perceptions and conceptualisations and
how this influences identification / provision for current and future;

Crystallising / Paralysing influences taken from Gagns trio of catalysts influence on

individual (creation of disposition) and the influence on process;

The notion of the elite and the view of elite provisions within music

Training, education and the need for challenge in that each participant is able to work
a level in accordance with their own needs, are presented with the opportunity to
extend their skills beyond their comfort zone.

Several questions have arisen from the study, largely centring around the need and purpose
for identification and measurement: Is everyone endowed with latent talent? If so, we all have
the capacity or potential to be talented and therefore measurement of potential is impossible.
Consequently, if we cannot measure, how can we identify without measuring an ability? Is it
more the recognition of emerging ability through development rather than measurement,
therefore, what is the purpose or value of measuring talent as the child develops? Within this
area of research, it is clear that it is the conceptualisation or the way in which an ability is
defined and view which suggests how an ability can be measured or if there is any value in
doing so. It may be the case that our focus should be towards how we recognise or identify
ability rather than how we can measure it. It could be that recognition of talent may have to
rest on professional judgement rather than a metric-based system of testing.