"A Brilliant Mind" programme for gifted children and young people in Romania

The programme "A Brilliant Mind" is running during this period. It is aimed at gifted children and young people in Romania

Țara noastră are cel mai mare număr de copii supradotați din Europa, potrivit statisticilor. România este pe primul loc la acest capitol, unul din șase copii având o minte sclipitoare.

However, the good news is accompanied by bad news, because of the rigid educational system in which these gifted children get lost.

Deși există legea 17/2007, care susține crearea programelor de educație diferențiată pentru tinerii capabili de performanță înaltă, mulți dintre ei, aproximativ 97% nu ajung să își atingă potențialul.

They are marginalised, bullied and have no system in place to help them overcome these problems.

The only ones who have the chance to realise their potential are those who come from well-off families and live in developed urban areas.

Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania aims to change statistics

Now in its third year, the "A Brilliant Mind" programme has become an accessible project for a very large number of children who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to be tested. Existing programmes at national level at the moment are not cost-effective and therefore inaccessible to many gifted children.

The main aim of the project is to provide high intelligence children, their parents and teachers with advice and support in identifying and using the best educational tools and practices.

In this way, children will have a real chance to develop their skills so that they reach their full native potential.

"A Brilliant Mind": third edition

The first stage of the third edition had 119 children. They took the multiple intelligence assessment tests (logical-mathematical, spatial, linguistic), after which nine children passed. They had the opportunity to be assessed using the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) test.

The test was developed by psychologist J.C. Raven in collaboration with psychiatrist L.S. Penrose, and is a non-verbal test of children's intellectual processes.

The test resulted in a report to help parents and teachers prepare the necessary steps for each child's development. It also helps to highlight their personality traits and to achieve performance in line with their individual intellectual ability.

With the help of counsellors, gifted children will be able to find out which areas need to be developed

The final stage consists of four activity sessions designed to help the nine finalists develop their communication skills and reach their maximum performance level.

The following topics will be addressed in these meetings:

• Session 1: Emotional Intelligence

• Session 2: Learning Motivation and Learning Styles

• Session 3: Effective communication

• Session 4: Ways of dealing with bullying behaviour

Another important aim of this project is to develop a GUIDE FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS. It helps to develop the social-emotional skills of gifted children. The guide will then be distributed to all schools by the Foundation.

The teachers' guide is prepared by experts in the field and will provide information and practical strategies on developing the social-emotional skills of gifted children.

Based on this guide, teachers will have access to a range of complementary activities. These support children and young people with specific gifted abilities. In this way, pupils will have their personality traits highlighted and will perform in line with their individual intellectual ability.