Protect gifted children from public prodigy exhibition and one-sided premature training¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 2 claims (1 for, 1 mixed) · 2 studies (1 review, 1 theoretical), q1–q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Stern condemns the "child-prodigy monstrosities": infant prodigies exhibited in public — reading babies, child mnemonists, lightning calculators, and above all musical prodigies — who are often merely precocious and mature early. He argues that public dragging before audiences, pampering, one-sided development of sensational performances, and lack of quiet, harmonious general development mean "the ruin of their whole lives," and calls for public indignation against parents' avarice and the populace's enthusiasm.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Quiet and harmonious general development instead of one-sided training for virtuosity

Constraints¶

• Applies with special force to rare children bearing the germ of real creative greatness, who suffer bodily and mental injury from a wandering childhood life

Target Learners¶

• precociously developed children and child prodigies

Target Learning Goals¶

• preservation of whole-life development over early sensational performance

Claims¶

• Conspicuous talent does not reliably succeed on its own; success requires physical energy and willpower that gifted individuals often lack [+W]
• Even the most talented performers need around 10 years of intense involvement to reach international level [~W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• William Stern. (1910). The Supernormal Child. The Journal of Educational Psychology. https://archive.org/search?query=Journal+of+Educational+Psychology