A child with great verbal, creative ease and with an intrinsic eagerness to learn, It can make parents and teachers think that they are facing a case of high intellectual capacity (AACC).
Early identification is essential to achieve a correct development of the child and avoid the frequent disorders that these children and young people suffer with extraordinary aptitudes in the social, emotional and school environment.
In Spain there are no specific schools for children with high intellectual abilities (gifted) although centers with specific programs for them. Carmen Sanz Chacón, clinical psychologist specializing in the subject and president of the 'Foundation the World of the Gifted', explains how to choose the best center for a child with high capacities.
Two percent of children have high capacities
“Intelligence is a very general mental capacity that, among other things, implies the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, understand complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. When we talk about gifted people, we are talking about children with extraordinary intelligence, the top two percent of the population, which can be detected from a very early age (3-4 years) ”,
explains Carmen Sanz, clinical psychologist, specialist in Intelligence, Giftedness and High Capabilities, director of the Psychological Cabinet The World of the Gifted and President of the 'Foundation the World of the Gifted'.
We also ask if a gifted child is the same as a child with high capacities, because we find the two meanings, and adds yes with some points:
High intellectual abilities. Concept that appears in the laws of Education in Spain to define the most capable students, although with different definition according to the region, from an intellectual quotient of 120.
Gifted, with an even higher intellectual quotient, according to the most recognized definition of the World Health Organization (WHO): Intellectual quotient (CI) of 130 or higher, according to the Weschsler intelligence scale, corresponding to the 2% of the school population with greater intelligence. The gifted need special education with a serious risk of school failure and serious adaptation problems if they are not identified early.
We understand that both definitions are correct to talk about children who can not detect their special needs can “Suffer bullying, have school failure or social isolation”, says the expert, "Because they don't understand each other with their peers of the same age, since they have concerns of older children: an eight-year-old gifted person has the intellectual age of one of eleven."
Rights recognized by law
Students who have high intellectual abilities are considered by Organic Law 2/2006, of May 3, on Education (LOE), as students with a specific need for educational support.
According to LOE “The integral attention to this student body will begin from the moment in which said need is identified and will be governed by the principles of normalization and inclusion”, although the educational competences belong to each Autonomous Community and the measures adopted vary from one to another.
Carmen Sanz Chacón, co-author of 'Report on the education of the gifted and high capacity in Spain: from School Failure to Educational Excellence', explains that "there are no public schools with specific programs for children with high capacities such as in countries like France or the United States", but extracurricular programs focused on better attention in some communities and projects in private schools, which include activities for gifted children.
You can consult the regulations and programs in the Ministry of Education of your Community.
In his report, Carmen Sanz specifies:
“Spanish legislation states that:
“It is up to the educational Administrations to adopt the necessary measures to identify students with high intellectual abilities and assess their needs early” (LOMCE 8/2013 art. 72).
The Royal Decree 943/2003, of July 18, also regulates these students, which regulates the conditions to make the duration of the various levels and stages of the educational system flexible for intellectually gifted students.
However, although the successive education laws insist on the need to identify gifted and high-capacity students in order to give them the education most adapted to their needs, the reality in Spain is quite different.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education Culture and Sports, At the end of the 2015/2016 academic year (latest data) only 23,741 high-capacity students were identified, of the 8,113,239 students in total in our country, which represents a percentage of just 0.29% of the total.
"This means that 138,517 gifted students are enrolled in our country and are not receiving specific education, so that, quite possibly, 50% of these students would be swelling the numbers of school failure according to the studies of the Ministry itself ”
says the expert in high capacities. This lack of gifted control may be due to:
They are not identified by parents or schools, because of the general lack of knowledge about this issue. Many times it is understood that an AACC student, is the one who always gets the highest marks, is more orderly, obedient (a brilliant student). But normally, the behavior of AACC students is quite the opposite: they tend to be the most clueless, least hardworking, disorderly, disobedient ...
That the parents (or even the student himself) give up this educational support when they consider that they do not need it or for fear of bullying.
The student with high intellectual abilities, detected and evaluated by a private cabinet, does not meet the requirements and qualities imposed by the corresponding Regional Ministry of Education, which is the one with the competence to do these tests. Not being officially diagnosed, these students cannot benefit from educational support programs.
Measures to adopt with a gifted child in school
They depend on each Autonomous Community, although there are fixed ones set forth in Organic Law 2/2006, of May 3, on Education. In its article 3 it establishes that "the psychopedagogical evaluation of this student body is competence, within the educational system, of the Guidance teams".
The problem, as explained by the director of the 'Foundation the World of the Gifted' is that:
“Public schools have very little staff for many students and unless it is a child who stands out academically, his gifted status often goes unnoticed. Yes, it is usually more supervised in some private schools. Hence the importance of choosing one that works in this direction and having to go to certified psychology cabinets to take the test ”.
Education also indicates the educational measures that can be taken with this student body and that “They will aim at the full and balanced development of their abilities and their personality”:
Ordinary measures. They must be adopted within the ordinary schooling process (enrichment and / or curricular expansion).
Exceptional performances. The flexibility of the duration of the various levels and educational stages, which will consist of the incorporation of students with high capacities to a higher course than their corresponding course.
The Ministry establishes the possibility of advancing three courses maximum, along the compulsory education. The logical thing, explains Carmen Sanz is that:
“One course is uploaded in the transition from Infant to Primary, another in 4th or 5th and a third in ESO. From the Foundation we advocate for a minimum of two years for the measures to be effective, depending on the child's IQ. ”
The expert in high capacities also criticizes the obstacles of the bureaucracy that cause that since a gifted child is diagnosed until the class change is effective, it goes from one to three years:
"The parents have to go to a psychological cabinet to have the test done (in some private schools they already do it) and if it is positive, communicate it to the center so that the guidance department can study whether it is convenient or not to take measures and, if so, communicate it to the Education Inspectorate and even in some cases, to the General Director of Education of the Autonomous Community ”.
What to consider when choosing a high capacity school?
According to the 'Foundation the World of the Gifted', a good school for a child with high capacities is one who:
Identify all your gifted students soon (at least 2% of the students).
It facilitates proper education at your mental age with thecourse acceleration As the first option.
The children are trained in social skills and emotion management.
Train parents, teachers and to the whole team in attention to children with High Capabilities.
Avoid school failure, bullying and achieve the emotional and educational development of the gifted according to their abilities.
It has special classrooms so that the center's gifted can interact with each other, at least a few hours a week, and attend specific classes to expand knowledge in the most important subjects.
Perform enrichment activities which allows them to develop their creativity and motivation.
Finally, the clinical psychologist Carmen Sanz Chacón recommends talking to the center director before enrolling the child:
“Tell him that your son has high abilities and ask if there is a problem accelerating the course. If you answer that gifted children are treated the same as others, or you don't even know how many gifted people you have in your center, it is best to find another one. ”
Some schools with high capacity programs
Balber College (Madrid). More than 10% of the educational community are of high capacity. Students have at their disposal a special classroom and five 5 corners related in different degrees to different types of intelligences, and which are also intended to deepen their knowledge of mathematics, language or science, to develop their verbal, plastic and creative creativity. graph.
San Pablo CEU School (Seville). High capacity project with identification of students with unusual skills and aptitudes for their school age.
XXI Century School (Madrid). Program developed in Primary, which has had a progressive application, combining practice with training in the field of high capacity detection, in collaboration with the University of Alcalá and promoted by the Ministry of Education of the Community of Madrid.
San Luis La Salle Ikastetxea (Donosti). He is founder and headquarters of Alcagi (Association of High Capacities of Gipuzkoa. He has an Enlargement classroom for High Capacity students. Pioneer experience recognized in the field of AACC.
El Pinar School (Málaga). Collaboration agreement with the Malagueña Association for the Support of High Intellectual Capacities, which includes specific training plans for teachers.
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