I am very happy to speak on this issue. It is very dear to my heart and I have been working on it for the past ten years. The young people I deal with are a most challenging and entertaining bunch to be with.
I will give some background to the work of the Irish Centre for Talented Youth, what we do, why we do it and the impact we feel it has had on the young people with whom we work. I will make some suggestions as to how we would like to develop the work.
There are many of these youngsters. Deciding on how many there are depends on how one defines a gifted child. The Department of Education and Science suggests that youngsters who would fall at the 97 percentile level in one or more areas, i.e. within the top 3% of the population, might be considered as being exceptionally able. That suggests there may be about 23,000 exceptionally able children in the country.
The first thing we do is run a system of talent identification. Though one might think it would be very obvious who these very bright children are, it is not always so straightforward. Very often, they are youngsters who hide their ability in an effort to conform, or they are not sufficiently challenged in school, and are therefore so unmotivated that they do not achieve highly there.
When we find such youngsters, we provide them with Saturday classes which run from October through to April. They are provided in Dublin City University, where the centre is based, but we also have classes running in Cork, Limerick, Athlone, Waterford and Letterkenny. There is a regional network of centres. We run summer residential programmes for our groups of older students, those in secondary school from about the age of 12 or 13 up to 16. We also run non-residential programmes for our younger students, children aged from six to 12. The summer programme is an amazing event. If any of the committee members are ever in the university around the time of the programme, we would love them to call in to see it. To see the energy and passion of young people working together, living together and having fun together is what makes the centre a very distinctive place.
We also run correspondence courses during the year, and provide support for parents and teachers. This is mostly done on the basis of people contacting us to seek help. We spend a great deal of time simply talking to parents, many of whom feel quite isolated. They feel it is a difficult area and do not find it easy to say their children are gifted. It is a great help for them to talk to others about the issues involved.
We do a great deal of work with teachers, going to schools and helping to put together plans for individual children. We also act as a clearing house for information in terms of books and resources, which we make available to those interested. Much research is involved, much of it with regard to evaluating our own programmes, but also looking at aspects of education such as the types of teaching styles which would work best with this group.
That is a rough outline of what we do. A bigger question perhaps is why we do it. Very often, when one says a child is gifted, there is a sense that this is brilliant, that the child needs nothing more, will go on to get six A1 marks in the leaving certificate and at some stage win a Nobel prize. That would be wonderful if it were the case, but for a great many youngsters of high ability that is not what happens. Youngsters with exceptional ability need to be challenged in a quite different way from what one would normally associate with their age group. A characteristic of these youngsters would be that they would absorb and retain knowledge much more quickly than one would normally expect. They can make connections between things in unexpected ways.
All this means they can find the classroom difficult. For example, many such children would read at a very early age. It would not be uncommon to find them reading from the age of three, and we know some who read from the age of two. One can imagine the situation for such a child going into primary school and re-learning the alphabet. In junior infants such a child might be colouring in pictures. We would regularly hear parents complain that their child is reading Roald Dahl and yet is being asked to colour in pictures in school. The school thus becomes an alien place for such children, not just from an educational point of view, with too little to do, but from a social point of view, involving feelings of isolation. Other youngsters might not see the connections between things they see and about which they want to talk. Many of the children with whom we deal are interested in archaeology, astronomy and world affairs. They watch "Oireachtas Report" and could tell members what is going on. They do so in the manner of an eight-year-old child, for example. They are interested in things that are happening and would love to talk to other eight-year-olds in the same kind of vein. While they have this ability, they also have the aspect and nature of an eight-year-old. They are interested in football and going to discos and in other things that are happening. They often find that, when they discuss things in which they are interested with age peers at school, their peers look at them as if they had two heads. They therefore start to withdraw and feel they had better not mention those things and keep away from such themes. However, in doing so, they are denying an aspect of themselves. That can lead to many problems such as depression, which is significant in that group of youngsters. There is a feeling of not belonging or not being valued for who they are. For them to have an acknowledgement that they have the ability and that they are marked in a particular way assists them a great deal by helping them believe there is a reason for them to feel like that. Identification is of great importance for them.
To have an academic challenge that makes them work and want to use their ability brings back to them the person they are. That is very important for them. Perhaps the members could imagine being asked at their age to go back and sit in school and hear things over and over again. With the repetitive nature of what happens, particularly at primary school, one can imagine them asking why they are there, since it is not important. That leads those children to become very demotivated. It is not unusual for us to talk to parents of youngsters aged 15 or 16 doing the junior certificate and coming up to the leaving certificate who say that their child wants to drop out of school. The children do not want to finish their education, since they cannot see any reason for it. Having started with wonderful potential and a significant level of ability, they come to the point where education is not working for them at all. We find that, if one gives them access to challenging material which is meaningful for them, it reinvigorates them. They have that lovely feeling of using their ability and go back into school feeling that they want to do more with it. That is the rationale behind us.
Our means of identifying such youngsters is slightly unusual. We have a system of what we call out-of-level testing. Essentially, we ask students interested in coming on to a programme to take a test that would more normally be taken by a person older than them. Typically, a 13 year old would take a test more normally taken by a 17 or 18 year old. To qualify for our programmes, we expect them to get the average score of that older age group. That seems an odd thing to do and a little scary. Why on earth would one give children that? However, it allows us to see ability in a way that one would not normally expect to see it. We often find that, if one gives a standardised test designed for 13 year olds to a very good group of 13 year olds, they will probably all get 100% on it, and one will not really see the difference between high ability and very exceptional ability. That higher-level testing provides a much higher ceiling for the children to demonstrate ability. With our younger group of primary schoolchildren, effectively we are looking for youngsters at about the 95th percentile level - the top 5% of the population - and with the older group it is the top 1% of the population.
We have had many such students take part in assessments. Over the past 11 years since we began in 1993 we have had approximately 14,000 students come forward to take assessments with us. Most of those students go on to qualify for our programmes. With the younger group, the figure is approximately 60% or 70%; with the older, about 40%. That shows one the high level of self-selection for such programmes. Youngsters put themselves forward for something for which they feel it is likely that they will qualify.
After having been selected for the programme, the types of classes that we offer the students are very extensive, covering such fields as archaeology, astronomy, politics, psychology, zoology and geopolitics. It is just about all there. The material we offer is outside the normal school curriculum. Students who come in to us and work intensively for three weeks at a time do not go back into school and then do the junior certificate a year early. It is not a cramming course; it provides access to material outside normal school work. Having said that, the way in which they learn helps them enormously when they go back into school. There is an emphasis on good study skills and on going to the library to research material. There is also a great mixture of different teaching styles within any subject. A student might in the morning take a class in biotechnology with a mixture of class work and lectures. The afternoon might be spent in the laboratory and the evening in the library following up on work carried out during the day. A mixture of activities would be going on.
Since I mentioned science, I would like to point out something. One often hears it said how there is such a decline in young people going forward to take science courses at third level or even for leaving certificate. Our science courses, particularly the lab-based courses, are the most popular subjects that we offer. We are always heavily oversubscribed for those classes. Chemistry, forensic science, biotechnology and physics are all extremely popular. In fact, we cannot cope with the demand from the students, and that is very significant. If we were to look at this simply from the point of view of wanting to encourage people to develop the talents they have, we see that this group really wants to work in the area, and perhaps that should be borne in mind in that regard.
How do we do it? The bottom line is the money aspect. Our annual income is about €1.1 million. The vast bulk of that comes from fees from students. We have some contributions from several other sources. For example, the university gives us around €53,000 each year. The Department of Education and Science contributes €83,000 per year. We also earn money for ourselves by carrying out testing for the university, which is totally separate from the work of the CTYI but gives us a little income. We try to keep the fees that we charge the students at as low a level as possible. Typically, students who would come in for a nine-week term of Saturday classes for two and a half hours each week would pay about €155. That is quite a low level, but there are parents for whom that would not be possible. However, we always make financial aid available, and we have never turned away a student on the basis of fees, though that is a considerable drain on our resources.
Sometimes there is an expectation that such youngsters come from well-off backgrounds, but that is far from the truth. They come from every possible background. We have many from our own local schools in and around Ballymun. Many come from Tallaght. We have specific programmes with several schools in disadvantaged areas to try to encourage those youngsters to come forward for assessment. We have never run an assessment session in one of those areas where we did not find at least some qualifiers, so those youngsters exist. They are a group of students in particular need of attention, since they may not come from a background where there is the money to buy extra books, provide access to computers or go on field trips - those things which add to the educational experience. We are very conscious of that group of students, which really needs our help.
The budget is extremely tight. Though €1.1 million sounds like a great deal, that is not the case when one takes everything into account. In the summertime in particular, when students come to stay with us residentially, housing and feeding students for three weeks is a big cost and a drain on our resources.
The programme works. Eleven years of working with such youngsters tells us overwhelmingly that the students get a great deal out of their time with us. Eighty-two per cent of students who take part in courses say they feel much happier afterwards. They feel content and at ease with themselves. They report that they are extremely satisfied with the academic challenge of the programme. More than 99% of them say they wish to come back on courses, and we see that. It is extremely rare for a student to come on a course with us and not return. They keep coming back time and time again.
The reasons for their return are twofold. First, they come back for the academic side. As soon as they have finished a course, they are asking what is on next term. They say they have heard a rumour that we will do Japanese next term and ask if that is true. If there is a theoretical physics course coming up, they want to know about it. There is great interest in what is going on and a great deal of contact between the students via e-mail. They ask each other if they have heard the latest about what is coming out. That is a big part, but an even larger part is the social experience. When such youngsters meet people who are like themselves, it gives them the confidence to come out of themselves and be the person that they are. That is why they keep coming back. They meet up with their friends again and establish relationships. We have done a great deal of research on this, and even ten years after being on the programme, they are still in contact with those with whom they meet and make friends. It is very important for them.
We provide a great deal of support for parents. I spend much of my time on the telephone. Every year we take hundreds of calls from parents, who feel quite isolated and express a great deal of frustration regarding trying to find the best path for their child. That starts almost as soon as they enter school. In October each year I am inundated with inquiries from the parents of five year olds. Their children have just started school and there are great expectations. The child is really excited about wanting to go to school and then the parents find it is not at all what they had hoped for. We would be under pressure to try to help. We have only recently started to work with children as young as six in the classes. There is enormous demand, however, for us to work with children even younger than that. Parents want to see a policy in place in every school, which stipulates what the institution will do for their individual child. These children belong to a group, which is in need of education as much as any other. They need to be taught. Sometimes that is missed and because they can absorb so much material easily, it is forgotten they often need to learn. What we find is that, if they do not learn how to learn at an early age, later on when they meet something that is difficult, they do not know how to tackle it. They are afraid of it and back away from it. They need an appropriate challenge at an early stage. That is what parents are looking for.
Parents would like in particular to see a named teacher in every school who would have responsibilities for co-ordinating activities for the gifted child. A problem we often find arises when we are asked to talk to a school and the teacher of a particular child in, say, second class. A year later we may get a phone call from the parents asking if we can go back and talk to the teacher in third class because there has been no communication in the meantime. I can well understand in a busy school situation that information may not get passed on. It happens, and it can be frustrating for parents, the child and ourselves. Parents say they want to see special classes for these youngsters at least on a weekly basis and ideally within a particular school or region to which the child may be brought. Possibly a number of schools could come together to facilitate this.
We would suggest in terms of the approach within the classroom that more open-ended work is needed and it needs to be differentiated. We would visit around 40 schools each year, simply on request. Those visits are funded entirely by the Irish Centre for Talented Youth. We do not get any particular support for that. We do a number of teacher training courses, usually where teachers are taking a course in the area of special needs. We are doing that at the Church of Ireland teacher training centre in Rathmines and also at St. Angela's College in Sligo.
The work of the centre is not confined to Ireland, although children come from every county in the country. Students come from abroad as well. Until recently we were unique within Europe for the types of programme we offered. More recently, similar centres have been set up in Spain and the UK at the University of Warwick. We have had an input into the setting up of both of these centres.
The department for education and skills for England and Wales is giving £2 million sterling annually, that is €2.9 million, towards the work of the Warwick centre. In the context of how that works out in relative spending terms, it equates to around €12 per gifted child in England and Wales compared with the €3.6 per child spent here. That does not take into account the large amount of spending in the UK in respect of teacher training in this particular area. The approach of the department for education and skills in England and Wales is that there should be at least one teacher in every school with some training in this area. That is in line with what is happening internationally.
We very much want to extend the existing network of centres that we have. There are great swathes of the country where we do not have a centre. There is enormous demand in Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Kerry and Dundalk. We have said we cannot go west of the Shannon again because we are being inundated with requests from parents in Galway who ask why we do not have a centre there. We hope to establish that, but we are restricted in what we can do because of financial constraints.
At present our work with six to seven year olds is confined to Dublin solely. However, we are under enormous pressure to replicate this throughout the country. That costs money, but this particular age group requires a higher staff-student ratio. We need more money to be able to do that.
There is much expertise in the area of science communication, for various reasons. There is enormous demand from our students for science courses. These are expensive because they are laboratory-based. With more money that need could be satisfied.
Another aspect is that we work with children who are exceptionally able academically, but who may also have another difficulty. It is quite possible, for example, they might have something like dyslexia, dyspraxia, attention deficit disorder, ADD, Asperger's syndrome or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD. Any of these conditions may occur within the area of high ability. About 10% of our students are of that dual exceptional type: they have a special need for particular attention and slip through the net in many cases in terms both of their high ability and the particular difficulty they may have. We would like to do more work with that particular group.
Teacher training is vital. There is so little training in this area, both at in-service and pre-service levels. It needs to be done. Many teachers tell us they would willingly work with these children but do not actually know what to do with them. Teachers need to have that information. We are aware that, even with a network of regional centres, it will be difficult to provide for the needs of all of these youngsters. We would like to explore such areas as distance learning, e-learning, virtual classrooms etc. We believe we have the technical expertise to do it. It comes down to money. We need help and support to do that.
At present some schools do exceptional work and there are teachers who do wonderful things with individual children. What may happen for any particular child, however, is very hit-and-miss. Parents express much frustration about this. Sometimes they might have a good experience in one school and the situation becomes totally different when the child is moved to another school. They have no means of redress. They do not know how to set about getting things changed. A small number of youngsters have been assessed by the Department of Education and Science's psychological service and resource teaching hours would have been recommended. Only a minute number of children have obtained such support - probably fewer than ten. As far as we can see there is no particular reason one child gets it and another does not. There is enormous demand from parents to have more support such as that.
The number one priority is more teacher training in this area. Every school should have a dedicated school policy. There should be a method for identifying these youngsters because they are not always identified easily. The curriculum needs to be differentiated in the classroom. That is an aspiration of the Department of Education and Science, I know, and it happens in some cases. However, it does not happen in many cases. Frequently teachers feel ill at ease. They are afraid to differentiate the curriculum for the gifted child in case they make him or her different. However, these children are different and need differentiated work. They need access to challenging material, both in school and outside. There needs to be a reduction in the repetitive nature of the work that may be given to them and they must have sustained and meaningful contact with other youngsters similar to themselves.
That is all I want to say. We love working with these youngsters. We feel we have gathered much expertise at this stage. We want to continue the work with the Department and with teachers throughout the country.
