Talent Concept

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Bored? Underchallenged?

At Gymnasium Rahlstedt it is important to us that our students feel seen not only with all their weaknesses, but also with their strengths.

Thus we pursue a talent concept that is less oriented toward subjects than toward the following areas of talent:

Mindmap on the specialist for special support. In the middle stands In line with the Munich (high) talent model, we understand special talents more as a potential that does not necessarily and always have to manifest in high achievement.

Process

Step I: Diagnostics (report card conference)

The determination of a need and the proposal for the areas of talent are made in the report card conference by the subject teachers and the form tutor. This is done with the help of observations, the KERMIT examination and the classroom results.

For each student a talent sheet is created or continued, which records the development process and serves as documentation for talent development until graduation.

Step II: The offer

The talent sheet is the basis for the conversation in LEG to discuss, together with the class teacher, with the student and parents, an integrated and/or additive offer in one or more areas of talent. The offer can be accepted or not. If necessary, parents and students can additionally request a counseling meeting during the consultation hours of the talent development specialist (FBF).

Step III: Support (school year)

The support of students with special talents is carried out by a tandem of Coaches for Talent Development (CBF) in the respective areas of talent throughout the entire school year. These are exclusively colleagues from our school.

In addition, students receive an appreciation of their achievements through a publication of their results in the school newspaper and on the school homepage, as well as at the end-of-year awards for special achievements.

Diagram with four main areas: I Diagnostics – observations and classroom results in mid-year report conferences; II Support offer – integrative (additional tasks, individualization) or additive (competence clubs) in LEG; III Support – Coaches for talent development during the school year in the five support areas; IV Evaluation – documentation, talent scouting in report conferences for the next half-year.

 

Giftedness: Can that also be a problem?

Achieving good grades with little effort, having quick comprehension, and being really good in all subjects – at first glance, giftedness seems to bring only advantages. Upon closer look, there are also pitfalls that can be associated with special talents. If one can imagine many different solution paths, it can be challenging to find the simplest path. In addition to the risk of getting lost, there can be puzzled looks from those who cannot make sense of the unusual solutions. Being different is not always easy.

There are many prejudices as well: How often are especially gifted students unjustly called nerds? Or are ambitious parents suspected of wanting to raise wunderkinder? That parents of highly gifted children face their own problems is often overlooked.

A giftedness becomes a problem, for example, when it is not immediately recognizable as such. Not every highly gifted child automatically achieves good grades. Sometimes the potential cannot be optimally developed for various reasons, and in individual cases there can even be a school failure. Understimulation can be as much a cause as failure due to the multitude of solution options – or many other reasons that must be determined in a precise diagnosis.

At GyRa we offer an advisory service as part of talent development, which I would like to commend to you here.

I would also like to highlight the option of a confidential counseling interview. There may be reasons in which parents or students, when suspecting giftedness, do not want to inform the class teachers at first, e.g., when it comes to diagnostics. Since I am currently acting as the overall coordinator of talent development, you can feel free to contact me directly by email in such cases (eva.maschke@gyra.hamburg.de).

If all school counseling options have been exhausted, the Hamburg advisory service for special talents (BbB) can also be consulted. On their website you will also find additional materials, for example lectures and workshop materials for download:

https://li.hamburg.de/qualitaetsentwicklung-von-unterricht-und-schule/beratungsstellen/beratungsstelle-besondere-begabungen

Even though there are long-established intelligence quotients since the groundbreaking work of William Stern (1871-1938), when someone is considered highly gifted, that plays a subordinate role in our work. What matters is that all students with special talents are optimally supported.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention again to existing offers at GyRa. For special talents in individual areas we have our Coaches for Talent Development (CBF), who can accompany the respective students throughout the entire school year. Allocation is typically decided by the report card conferences.

We are also a partner school of the Digital Door. The relatively new portal of the Digital Door offers material and online courses for enrichment, primarily for particularly gifted students.

https://www.digitale-drehtuer-campus.de/explore

Not least, we offer a variety of free afternoon programs that all children can benefit from. You can obtain information from our after-school team led by Ms. Rüdebusch.

We hope that our advisory services can help you so that a special talent does not have to become a problem.

Contact person:

Dr. Eva Maria Maschke (Coordinator of Talent Development)