Science Education for Gifted Learners

Who are the gifted in science? Are they necessarily the straight-A students or the all-round high achievers? Could these “gifted students” be found among those at the borders, the school dropouts even? Professor John Gilbert helps us to rethink the idea of the gifted learner.

Article highlights

Are we doing enough to develop high-ability students in science?
What does it mean to be gifted in science?
How can we identify and develop these gifted learners?

Science is everywhere. It pervades our personal and professional lives. And it is taught and examined in school curricula around the world. But has our science curriculum overlooked those who are gifted in the subject?

In recent years, the school science curriculum has evolved to provide “science for the citizen”. It is no longer the domain of the scientist – science education is and must be accessible for all!

While this development has benefitted the man in the street, the fallout is that many “would-be” scientists are increasingly being drawn away to other fields. This is a loss not only for the scientific field but for society at large.

Professor John Gilbert – eminent science researcher, educator and award-winning author – describes this as a problem of “neglect”.

“You’ve got to have scientists,” he says. “We have to do something to pull them back!”

The question for educators at the K-12 levels is: How can we identify those who have a talent and aptitude for science? And once identified, how do we develop this ability in science?

Redefining “Giftedness”

Part of the problem, perhaps, lies in the way we define “giftedness”.

“Indeed in most countries, everyone thinks giftedness means being able to do the existing curriculum faster, getting mastery of the content more quickly,” observes Prof Gilbert. But he suggests a radically different idea.

“Giftedness surely has got to mean that you’re intellectually innovative,” he posits. “Giftedness is about being creative!”

Creativity, you ask? What does creativity have to do with excelling in science?

“It is about being able to attack, or even identify, problems that people have not identified before. Opportunities! And to generate the science to explain them, and the technology to explore them.”

Identifying Creative Learners

Unfortunately, there are no foolproof tests for identifying creative people. “You can do the tests, and it sort of narrows the field, but you can’t tell who’s creative.”

The best way to identify creative people, he says, is to give people the opportunity to be creative.

“Give them questions to solve – preferably increasingly open-ended ones – problems that people don’t know the answers to,” suggests Prof Gilbert. Provide extended opportunity to work on their own to solve a menu of problems with increasing difficulty.

And that’s where the real test begins. The gifted (a.k.a. creative) learner will display the following characteristics:

- Interest: They will demonstrate an inclination towards problem solving.
- Intrigue: They will ask questions, difficult ones!
- Imagination: They will come up with creative solutions.
- Persistence: They won’t give up, even in the face of difficulty. They are self-directed and motivated.
- Purpose: They will have tenacity of purpose and a sense of ownership.

This “Gilbert recipe for giftedness” may be exploratory and tentative, but it allows teachers to see how their students will perform. More importantly, it allows students opportunity to show us their creativity.

“You’d be surprised what kids will come up with!”

Where does creativity begin?

Prof Gilbert gives the example of Harold Kroto, recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, as someone who demonstrates “giftedness” as he defines it. As a lad, Kroto worked at his dad’s workshop on weekends, and gradually found himself solving the problems they had at work. He was naturally interested in creating solutions.

Or consider Jamie Oliver, a high school dropout who has carved out a successful career as a celebrity chef. He would never have been considered gifted by any school’s definition. Today, however, his ability in his chosen field is undisputed.

“It doesn’t necessarily say that you can’t be a high attainer and not be gifted – don’t get me wrong,” says Prof Gilbert. “But relying exclusively on high attainment is foolish.”

So, how does our education system fare in developing gifted learners?

“I think the current system doesn’t do anyone any favours, because people who are labelled as gifted think that they are. They get high marks, but they may not be gifted.”

Test scores can be viewed as a pre-selector to sieve out those with creative potential. This can then be followed with project inquiry work, to see how they fare, before investing further resources on them. And it will involve a substantial amount of investment as well as a high level of commitment on the part of the teachers.

Today, Prof Gilbert spends much of his time teaching 4-year-olds in London. He’s teaching them about models and representations – and loving every moment of it. “I think you can start earlier on with this,” he says, “I think you should start earlier on.”

Teaching Gifted Learners

Prof Gilbert makes a distinction between teaching and mere instruction. “Teachers want answers, they want algorithms, they want things to do – that’s not teaching, that’s instruction!”

“Teaching gifted children is very demanding,” he warns. “It is very little about telling them things and an awful lot about asking them questions, probing what they understand, and getting them to suggest where they might go. These are very high-level skills in a teacher.”

He recalls his first day as a teacher, fresh out of graduate school. Facing a class of bright 13-year-olds who would complete the A-levels in 4 years, he began by asking where they would like to start. He was taken aback by the response: “I think we should start with some of the fundamentals. How about…thermal dynamics?”

Prof Gilbert’s challenge to teachers is to “push ables”. For example, he says, “I would like to see much more inclusion in the school curriculum of extended work.”

“I’m not saying teachers should just go to the back room and drink tea. We’ll give support. And you look at how well they get on – those who make progress with their problems, who show tenacity, who use skills – those are the gifted people.”

Perhaps the next winner for the science Nobel Prize is in your class. If we adopt the Gilbert recipe for giftedness, we’d do well to start thinking of creative ways to re-engage them in science.

Further reading
Gilbert, J. K. (2005). Constructing worlds through science education. London: Routledge.

Gilbert, J. K., & Newberry, M. (2007). The characteristics of the gifted and exceptionally able in science. In K. S. Taber (Ed.), Science education for gifted learners (pp. 15-31). London: Routledge.