Small Wonders
By Andrew Marshall
Time Asia Small Wonders by Andrew Marshall is an intriguing article that searches for answers to this fascinating question “Are child prodigies born or made?” To begin with, the author strictly defines prodigy as a child who by age 10 displays a mastery of a field. Initially, I had no doubt about this definition; however, after reading some online information, I got to know that although there was growing consensus with the author’s definition, it would be going too far to say that such a consensus exists without controversy. There may, for example, be some wisdom in the view of Radford (1990), who has argued that there are so many problems with specifying at what age, and against what standard, a child would have to perform to be called a prodigy. Personally, I much more agree with Radford’s viewpoint than the strict definition of the author. He regards age as the standard to demiliate a prodigy, while I agree with Radford that each field has its own standards, and it seems better to try to specify what is uniquely characteristic of the child prodigy than restricting a certain age to call someone a prodigy. Prodigies, as the author says, can be found anywhere and in any race or culture. However, there are some factors that prevent some child prodigies from being discovered or developed. Besides poverty, lack of education, and absence of opportunities in the past, most of which have been mentions in the text, there are two other factors that I feel quite upset to know when searching further online information. First is the history of child prodigies in South – East Asia, which can be summed up in one word: neglect. Remarkably, all of the five prodigious children in that story have one thing in common: the educational authorities did nothing to help them. This so unfair fact reminds me of an article with tittle “When teacher fails your infant prodigy” by Judith Judd. In his article, Judith Judd also states an expert’s idea that there are significant numbers of teacher who do not recognize the signs of giftedness, which badly affects the children’s feelings: alienated, bored, upset, and regress. Another factor that has great influence on the development of prodigious children is family. The University of Chicago studied the development of 100 super achievers (research mathematicians, musicians, swimmers and tennis players) and discovered that their careers displayed a strong parent and teacher influence, proving that the gifted are nurtured, as well as born. Most of them were strongly encouraged to pursue their career by a member of the family, or an exceptionally dedicated teacher who had the ability to differentiate the ordinary from the extraordinary. Some were motivated by their own decision and their family to take on hours of learning and training with an expert. Briefly, I really suppose that the neglectful society and family are the two biggest obstacles that prevent prodigical children from being discovered and developed. After the definition of a prodigy, the author gives an example of the most celebrated young pianist in Singarpore. The he introduces a new research about the operation mechanism of the prodigy’s brain. I read this passage with great interest because of its informative neuroscientific evidence. It comes out that compared with average kids, children with aptitude for numbers show six to seven times more metabolic activity in the right side of the brains, an area known to mediate pattern recognition and spatial awareness – key abilities for math and music. I am quite astounded to get to know that as I normally suppose that math and music are separately opposite things. It is my conviction that left – brained people often excel in maths, while right – brained people are sensitive to music. This conviction also derives from my real life that both of my elder sister and my brother – in – law are very good at maths, but terribly bad at memorizing the melody and the lyric of a song. My case is the opposite! I can learn melody and lyric of a song very quickly, but I must be very hard to understand a mathematic problem. Hence, to my surprise, it comes out that maths and music are very closely related together. On the process of searching information, I know that a number of musical sounds and features are all based on maths, including pitch and scales. There is also a very rigid set of numbers and mathematics that are used in music. For example, there are always eight notes in an octave. Often people who have a natural aptitude for music have an ability to perform math easily. After all, most children like music but complain about maths are fairly common! I am not the exception! The advice is fractions and integers can be more easily digested by children if they first learn about intervals and beats in music. However, with prodigious children, they have no need to do that as according to O’ Boyle, the director of the University of Melbourne’s Morgan Center, child prodigies can switch very efficiently between the brain’s left and right hemispheres. The case of Abigail Sin is an example. She is popularly known as a prodigy in music, yet for the past three years she has been ranked among the top 1% in an international math competition. Continue with O’ Boyle’s explanations “For the longest time, these kids’ brains were considered the same everyone else’s, they just did twice as much, twice as fast.” I think this may be true for two reasons. First, scientists estimate that human beings use less than 10% of their brain power during day – to – day life. Even the most gifted individuals seldom use more than this. From this fact, we can ifer that if the prodigious kids do not make use of their brains over 10%, I don’t stand in the author’s view that they can do qualitatively different from the average children. The fact that prodigies are gifted by genetic accident, in my opinion, has its own basic. Parents of prodigies are often involved in the same or related fields as their offspring (Bloom, 1985). Picasso's father was an artist, Mozart's father a musician, Nijinsky's parents were dancers. Referring to the connection between high intelligence and prodigious behavior, I agree with the author that their connection is far from absolute. Many creative and gifted children don't necessarily score high IQs because certain 'intelligences' do not test well on standardized IQ examinations. In the nature vs. nurture debate, I agree with the idea that “Prodigies are half born, half made and mostly discovered at an early age.” Obviously, it is an advantage of a child to be naturally born gifted. However, it would be a waste if the wunderkinder did not nurture his/ her talent. Biologically, the brain is not static. It changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it. It means that if gifted children’s brains are not actively activated, their talents cannot be in bloosom. Most researchers also come to realize that children that are gifted but left basically on their own with little encouragement or stimulation will not reach their full potential. They need a stimulating and challenging environment to help them succeed. This is true both at home in the early years and later in school. In brief, highly gifted children need special encouragement and role models in order to understand, appreciate and actualize their own giftedness so that they can balance the dual roles of gifted achiever and gifted nurturer (Kerr, 1985; Piechowski, 1988; Silverman & Kearney, 1989)
Being a podigy, however, does not mean a perfect child as some people might think. "It would be naive to suppose that giftedness doesn't bring with it certain attendant difficulties," says Dr. Rita Underberg, a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. They are children first, and gifted after. They also have the right to fail and many feel "the pressure of living up to their potential". Therefore, I totally agree with the author that children still need time to be children. Prodigies should not put away childish things simply because they perform as adults. I suppose that even with a wunderkinder, it is a should to keep their childhood and foster their own interests. Dr Chitham, the association’s educational consultant advises that parents should remember that education is not a race and that children are not there to fulfill their parents’ unfulfilled ambitions. Teaching eventually should be satisfy the needs of the child. Personally, I think the most important thing is that “Neve take away the childhood time of children.” Let them be innocient and carefree as the other normal children! In general, I really enjoy reading this article by Andrew Marshall that is intriguing and informative with abundant specific statistics, psychological evidence, and experts’opinions. Except the definition of prodigy, I agree with most of the author’s arguments which are clearly stated and proved. I am also very in favour of the writer’s lingustic style which is natural, academic, and intelligible.
Sources :
1. Lorraine C. Smith & Nancy Nici Mare. Topics for Today (3rd ed.). Andrew Marshall. Small Wonders (Chaper 6, pp.120 – 122)
2. The history of child prodigies in South-East Asia. Retrieved Thursday, December 20, 2007, from http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2007/12/history-of-child-prodigies-in-south.html
3. Diana Pye & Simon Greenall. CAE Reading Skills. Judith Judd. When teacher fails your infant prodigy (pp. 56 – 57)
4. Kathi Kearney. The 10 most commonly asked questions about highly gifted children. Retrieved from February 16th, 2010, from http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/10_highly_gifted.htm
5. Robert H. Wozniak. Nature or Nurture. From: http://www.giftedjourney.com/nature.html
6. How are music and maths related. From: http://grothendieck-circle.org/how-are-music-and-maths-related.html
7. Brian Butterworth. What makes a prodigy? Retrieved in 2011, from http://neurosci.nature.com