A global village is a small world.It was a most diverting sight--12 mature Australian teenagers happily riding round in the teacups
The Teacups are an amusement ride that have a rotating floor. Each set of teacups has a circular floor, or a motor that will turn 360 degrees. in the "Small World" area of Disneyland in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , California. The holiday break was a treat during our return trip to Australia from the annual Future Problem Solving problem solving
Process involved in finding a solution to a problem. Many animals routinely solve problems of locomotion, food finding, and shelter through trial and error. International (FPSPI FPSPI Future Problem Solving Program International ) Conference at the University of Georgia Organization
The President of the University of Georgia (as of 2007, Michael F. Adams) is the head administrator and is appointed and overseen by the Georgia Board of Regents. , and these hard-working students were thoroughly enjoying their "time out." When the carousel music died away and, with some reluctance, they climbed over the teacup rims, Simon came over to where I stood, smiling a bit indulgently in·dul·gent
Showing, characterized by, or given to indulgence; lenient.
Adv. 1. as I watched their return to childhood. We surveyed the next riders companionably until he turned to me. "You know," he said with some surprise, "it really is! Small, I mean. That's one thing I've learned through doing FPSP--that we're all part of one world. And it's not so big, either."
That remark has come back to me many times during my years of working with the Future Problem Solving Program (FPSP FPSP Future Problem Solving Program
FPSP Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific ). The words are a testament that the program is one important way of encouraging students of all ages to think about the world they inhabit in·hab·it
v. in·hab·it·ed, in·hab·it·ing, in·hab·its
1. To live or reside in.
2. To be present in; fill: Old childhood memories inhabit the attic. not just from a local or national perspective, but a global perspective, and helping them see themselves as part of a much larger context.
GIFTED STUDENTS NEED TO DEVELOP A GLOBAL OUTLOOK
For gifted students in particular, this is a critical part of their development as potential future leaders Future Leaders is a UK schools-led charitable organisation that aims to widen the pool of talented leaders especially for urban challenging secondary schools. It was founded in March 2006 by Nat Wei, a former founder of Teach First. and contributors to world progress and harmony. It matches not only the needs of society but also their own personal needs and capacities.
In Clark's (1983) overview of the characteristics of gifted students, she noted the following attributes: (a) strongly motivated by self-actualization needs, (b) advanced cognitive and affective affective /af·fec·tive/ (ah-fek´tiv) pertaining to affect.
1. Concerned with or arousing feelings or emotions; emotional.
2. capacity for conceptualizing and solving social problems, (c) leadership, (d) solutions to social and environmental problems, and (e) involvement with the metaneeds of society (e.g., justice, beauty, truth).
WORRYING ABOUT WORLD PROBLEMS AND FEELING HELPLESS TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT THEM
Other scholars have commented on the gifted student's interest in world issues and concern for social problems and moral and ethical matters. On the basis of action research questionnaires, Schmitz and Galbraith (1985) recorded the eight great gripes gripe
v. griped, grip·ing, gripes
1. Informal To complain naggingly or petulantly; grumble.
2. To have sharp pains in the bowels.
1. of gifted students, one of which is significant in this discussion: "We worry about world problems and feel helpless to do anything about them" (p. 97). This has been endorsed by scholars such as Silverman (1993, 1994), who emphasized the heightened sensitivity of gifted students to global affairs and their deep concern for moral and social problems. She stressed the importance of understanding and nurturing the inner world of the gifted, especially the "inherent relationship between abstract reasoning, complexity, moral values, and the evolution of society" (Silverman, 1994, p.115).
Both Silverman (1994) and Pohl (1995) advocated programs to develop these interests of the gifted and to allay al·lay
tr.v. al·layed, al·lay·ing, al·lays
1. To reduce the intensity of; relieve: allay back pains. See Synonyms at relieve.
2. their anxieties. The sense of helplessness they identified was echoed by Cohen cohen
(Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. and Friedenberg (1993), who remarked on the burdens that gifted students often impose on themselves by their own unrealistic expectations--the feeling that they are somehow personally responsible for finding solutions to the world's problems.
More recently, Silverman (2007), as director of the Gifted Development Center (Denver, CO), listed 23 highlights of what has been learned so far from the Center's assessment of nearly 5,000 children from 1979 to 2007. Three of the findings are particularly relevant to the consideration of the exceptional sensitivity of gifted children as "burden or blessing." The first (#15) was the higher percentage (over 60%) of gifted children who are introverted in·tro·vert·ed
Marked by interest in or preoccupation with oneself or one's own thoughts as opposed to others or the environment. compared with the general population (30%). The second (#9) was their asynchronous Refers to events that are not synchronized, or coordinated, in time. The following are considered asynchronous operations. The interval between transmitting A and B is not the same as between B and C. The ability to initiate a transmission at either end. developmental pattern, and the third (#14) was their perfectionism per·fec·tion·ism
A tendency to set rigid high standards of personal performance.
per·fection·ist adj. & n. , which allied with highly developed sensitivity and intensity. All three attributes make gifted children particularly vulnerable to awareness of the perils of the world, without necessarily having the emotional resources to deal with the problems they perceive or the moral issues that their cognitive awareness has heightened.
These observations are not new. Roeper (1988) quoted the findings of Clark and Hankins' (1985) comparative study that showed the greater concern of gifted students for world news items, and particularly war, compared to their nongifted peers. Their acute sense of justice, she noted, leads them to:
[F]eel helpless and powerless to make an impact, and they suffer deeply from this. They worry about the injustices of the world. They worry about peace, about the bomb, about their futures, about the environment, about all the problems that they encounter. (p. 12)
In Galbraith's (1985) survey of more than 400 gifted children, who were asked to self-report their concerns, she recorded higher levels of worry about world problems than was demonstrated by their peers. They showed particular concern about problems such as world hunger, nuclear war, pollution, and international relations international relations, study of the relations among states and other political and economic units in the international system. Particular areas of study within the field of international relations include diplomacy and diplomatic history, international law, . This awareness begins at a young age. Von Karolyi's (2006) comparison of highly gifted, primary-school children with typical children demonstrated a greater recognition of complex global issues by the gifted population. An earlier analysis by Landau lan·dau
1. A four-wheeled carriage with front and back passenger seats that face each other and a roof in two sections that can be lowered or detached.
2. A style of automobile with a similar roof. (1976) of the changing patterns of concern as age advances showed children aged 9-12 asking more general questions--Will there be peace? Is there life on other planets?--compared with the more personal, lifeconnected problems listed by older students (aged 12-15), such as the future role of the family or the sufficiency of natural resources to sustain life.
IMPLICATIONS OF GIFTED STUDENTS' CONCERNS ABOUT THEIR WORLD
What are the dangers if these concerns are ignored? Roeper (1988) warned of the possibility of a subculture subculture /sub·cul·ture/ (sub´kul-chur) a culture of bacteria derived from another culture.
n. of personal gain (that might is right) developing among the gifted. Both the ends that gifted students might seek and the means to achieve these ends have been explored in Yong's (1992) analysis of Machiavellianism, an outlook where "an individual holds a cynical view of human nature and has internalized manipulative ma·nip·u·la·tive
Serving, tending, or having the power to manipulate.
Any of various objects designed to be moved or arranged by hand as a means of developing motor skills or understanding abstractions, especially in traits" (p. 192). Roeper's analysis indicated that this tendency is negatively associated with positive self-concept and internal locus of control locus of control
A theoretical construct designed to assess a person's perceived control over his or her own behavior. The classification internal locus indicates that the person feels in control of events; external locus among gifted students.
Other writers have suggested ways of addressing the recorded concerns. Passow (1988) agreed that gifted children have the potential for greater and more profound social, moral, and ethical concerns and made these a basis for the curriculum he advocated. Tannenbaum (1983) emphasized that all gifted children, regardless of their types of special talents, should concentrate as seriously on the affective domain affective domain,
n the area of learning involved in appreciation, interests, and attitudes. as they do on the cognitive domain cognitive domain,
n area of study that deals with the processes and measurable results of study, as well as the practical ability to apply intelligence. ; specifically, that they should develop an alertness to human values Human Values is the universal concept that preserves and enhances Homo Sapiens as a species, this applies to every human being on the present universe, anything against this values brings the consequence of a Self Species Extermination Event (SSEE) like hate, racism or war. and judgments, an acceptance of responsibility for others, and a personal code of conduct based on the examination of values.
The literature on the social and affective needs of the gifted has addressed many relevant aspects. VanTassel-Baska (1989) listed the challenges required by gifted students; one of these was the opportunity of applying their abilities to real problems in the world of production, a world that might well include the creation of solutions to global and social problems. More recently, practical ways of implementing this have been explored through service learning (Terry & Bohnenberger, 2007).
Other scholars have seen this need as linked to the world of leadership in both the societal so·ci·e·tal
Of or relating to the structure, organization, or functioning of society.
Adj. and moral spheres. Tannenbaum (1983) argued for values education, lest lest
For fear that: tiptoed lest the guard should hear her; anxious lest he become ill.
[Middle English, from Old English we create a race of supertechnocrats, with no conscience or commitment to values, and stressed the need to teach gifted children the social and affective consequences of becoming a high-level producer or performer, so that they might contemplate human values and develop personal codes. But he added the caution, "All of this soul-searching should be combined with a commitment to action, for just as creative work without a regulating conscience leads to recklessness, contemplation Contemplation
Compleat Angler, The
Izaak Walton’s classic treatise on the Contemplative Man’s Recreation. [Br. Lit.: The Compleat Angler]
sculpture by Rodin, depicting contemplative man. without creative work leads to impotence impotence (im`pətəns), inhibited sexual excitement in a man during sexual activity that, despite an unaffected desire for sex, results in inability to attain or maintain a penile erection. " (p. 439).
Passow (1988) also was concerned with the potential leadership skills of the gifted, noting that many countries talk of preparing the gifted to be tomorrow's leaders, but pointing out the need to attend to another dimension of giftedness--"the development of caring, concerned, compassionate com·pas·sion·ate
1. Feeling or showing compassion; sympathetic. See Synonyms at humane.
2. Granted to an individual because of an emergency or other unusual circumstances: individuals who develop and use their giftedness for society's benefit as well as for self-fulfillment" (p. 15).
These two aspects--an attitude of service and a greater awareness of the global world rather than a focus on the national or local context--have seen close attention in recent years, especially in much of the last decade's writing on internationalism in·ter·na·tion·al·ism
1. The condition or quality of being international in character, principles, concern, or attitude.
2. A policy or practice of cooperation among nations, especially in politics and economic matters. in schooling and the impact of globalization globalization
Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation in educational affairs. In a specific way, the development of the International Baccalaureate (IB) has been seen as a move toward pan-nationalism. The IB uses McKenzie's (2001) preferred interpretation of the word international, with its twin aims of world-mindedness (the promotion of global consciousness) and open-mindedness (the development of a conscience appropriate to this).
While many scholars have seen globalization as a key factor in motivating reforms in diverse spheres of action (e.g., Cohen & Rai, 2000; Della Porta Della Porta. For persons thus named use Porta. , Andretta, Mosca, & Reiter, 2006; Gaventa, 2001; Goodman, 2002; McDonald, 2006; Pieterse, 2001; Rotberg, 2004), others have been quick to note that the concept has not yet been properly translated into action. As Edwards (2001) commented, "We may dream of a global community, but we don't yet live in one" (p. 1). In the educational world this is particularly true, leading to discrepancies between words and practice, such as that pointed out by Eisenchlas and Trevaskes (2003) between the "centrality of international education in academic policy statements and the lack of concrete examples of how educators actually go about internationalizing the curriculum in a tangible and easily replicable way" (p. 87).
The difficulties will not be easily solved, because either the traditional answers to social and economic questions have become redundant or the questions have become more complex and the answers more uncertain (Edwards, 2001). Yet the general agreement on the importance of global thinking is clear, and its ethical goals well summed up by Florini (2001): "It matters whether this problem is solved, because transnational civil society can serve humanity well" (p. 39).
THE FUTURE WORLD IS IN THEIR HANDS
The solution will lie in the hands of youth; it is clear that "we all, and especially the young, know that things cannot go on as they are" (Jenkins, 2001, p. 92). Yet the young must be helped to find their own answers to the development of a sense of membership in the global community, for as educators we agree with Campbell, Baikaloff, and Power (2006) that there is a sense of "discomfort with the notion of one generation, however knowledgeable, foisting upon future generations its view of desirable future worlds" (p. 3), an approach that he condemns as an affront af·front
tr.v. af·front·ed, af·front·ing, af·fronts
1. To insult intentionally, especially openly. See Synonyms at offend.
a. To meet defiantly; confront.
b. to personal autonomy and an infringement of the basic principles of democratic living.
With these ideas, thinking is moved from the present to the future, a future that Jenkins (2001) saw as being insufficiently addressed in schools that too often fail to address the context of the years 2010-2050, years in which today's school pupils will be living and working. This is not a new issue. For decades the seminal seminal /sem·i·nal/ (sem´i-n'l) pertaining to semen or to a seed.
Of, relating to, containing, or conveying semen or seed. figures in the field of gifted education Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. Programs providing such education are sometimes called Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) or have made this context their concern in writings that emphasize a close link between future education and development of a global outlook.
Tannenbaum (1983) advocated futurism futurism, Italian school of painting, sculpture, and literature that flourished from 1909, when Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's first manifesto of futurism appeared, until the end of World War I. as an area of school study, suggesting that students should learn to analyze the laws of nature and to consider how these would impact on future development. Even problem-solving as a skill needs to be re-thought in the light of this emphasis. As taught today it is essentially a reactive process, dealing with the identification of, and solutions to, problems that currently exist, often restricted to a limited local or national context. But future studies lead to a more complex process, and may encourage "the more difficult aspect of problem-solving, that of prediction, or the ability to foresee problems that might occur in the future and then to implement strategies to prevent those problems from occurring in the first place" (Casinader, 1995, p. 57).
E. Paul Torrance was the educator and researcher who focused most specifically on the importance of future studies, with a clear policy that "schools must devote a considerable part of the curriculum to helping students (especially gifted and talented ones) to enlarge TO ENLARGE. To extend; as, to enlarge a rule to plead, is to extend the time during which a defendant may plead. To enlarge, means also to set at liberty; as, the prisoner was enlarged on giving bail. , enrich, and make more accurate their images of the future Images of the future are one of the main resources used in the field of Futures Studies, as a subject of analysis, as well as a site for the active development and pursuit of preferred future scenarios. " (1978, p. 1). His argument was based on his observation that
Gifted children across the grades are frontier minded. Their interests focus on the limits of personal and societal knowledge and at the borders of man's present environment.... They are more interested in confronting new frontiers than in consolidating old ones. (Torrance, p. 4)
Students who have experienced a program that meets these needs of the gifted are in a favorable position Noun 1. favorable position - the quality of being at a competitive advantage
favourable position, superiority
advantage, vantage - the quality of having a superior or more favorable position; "the experience gave him the advantage over me" to fulfill Passow's (1988) aim of the creation of caring and committed citizens of a future world and to be the leaders he envisaged for that world. They will benefit also from Campbell et al.'s (2006) plea for autonomy in futures education, where the futures studied "are preferred, rather than forecasted, ones, and the preparation is primarily concerned with ensuring that the young people develop the attributes needed to create for themselves worlds in which they want to live" (p. 3). This autonomy may be provided through activities such as future problem-solving.
E. Paul Torrance (1976) established FPSP in 1974 to meet pressing needs he had identified. Through explicit training of students in a six-step problem-solving methodology (based on the Parnes-Osborne strategies that underlie the parallel Creative Problem Solving Creative problem solving is the mental process of creating a solution to a problem. It is a special form of problem solving in which the solution is independently created rather than learned with assistance. Creative problem solving requires more than just knowledge and thinking. program), FPSP gives students a new sense of self-efficacy in their approach to problems and challenges of many diverse types.
Problem-solving training, however, is not left as an abstract and hypothetical endeavor. In the central Booklet program, teams of four members research key issues of importance in today's world, which have been selected by international vote before being studied by students in all the countries engaged in the program. One major topic is set for each term of the school year. After their research, teams are presented with a Future Scene, which is set in a world from 20 to 40 or 50 years ahead and which focuses on the topic they have been studying. The problem-solving strategies they have learned must be applied to this Future Scene, leading to the writing of an 11-page booklet that utilizes the six steps with an Action Plan as the final stage.
The setting of these topics in a future world meets many of the needs of gifted students, which were identified earlier in this article. The projection of topics into a hypothetical world, gives them the opportunities for creativity and originality o·rig·i·nal·i·ty
n. pl. o·rig·i·nal·i·ties
1. The quality of being original.
2. The capacity to act or think independently.
3. Something original.
Noun 1. , encouraging thinking outside the box in a way that few school programs allow. By requiting the final step of development of an action plan to alleviate the problem situation, the program encourages students' sense of responsibility for the world they will be leading, and for the issues they will face.
This world of the future is not a world limited to individual countries and cultures. Increasingly, FPSP addresses the need for a global outlook by gifted students and has developed this emphasis in its setting of topics, its expansion of the program into new regions of the world, and its formal administrative structures. The establishment in 2005 of a Global Awareness Committee, now one of the central Working Committees of the program, and the formal name change in 2006 to Future Problem Solving Program International The Future Problem Solving Program International (FPSPI), formerly known as the Future Problem Solving Program (FPSP), is an international academic competition. Over 250,000 students internationally participate in the Future Problem Solving program every year. (FPSPI) are tangible evidence of the global emphasis that the program alms to foster. Recent extensions of mentoring programs into Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Japan, Switzerland, Romania, Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. , and South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. are further examples of a more international perspective.
The topics set for study elicit e·lic·it
tr.v. e·lic·it·ed, e·lic·it·ing, e·lic·its
a. To bring or draw out (something latent); educe.
b. To arrive at (a truth, for example) by logic.
2. a similar global approach rather than a narrowly national one. Topics in recent years, such as Terrorism/Security, Freedom of Speech, Healthcare Access, Alternative Energy, Environmental Law, Nanotechnology, Prejudice, and Word Population are typical of the issues that students have studied on a global level between 2001 and 2006.
The action branch of the program, Community Problem Solving (CmPS), gives students further practical ways of working on and identifying with world problems and situations. In this activity, students (either in teams or individually) are offered the chance to explore topics and issues of their own choice--an aspect that leads them to a keen and critical look at communities that may be local and regional but also may be international in scope. Many students take this option and work their way through the six steps of problem-solving to reach a solution to the issue that they have identified and researched.
Through this process, students have brought a new dimension to the concept of service learning, for they have moved to the level that Terry and Bohnenberger (2007) identified as community action. They have been given the desired "opportunity to find out how they fit into the larger world outside of school as well as the opportunity to express themselves positively in real-world situations" (Terry & Bohnenberger, 2007, p. 8). But they also have gone far beyond just supplying a service, as valuable as this may be. These students have analyzed a situation, generated new ideas "New Ideas" is the debut single by Scottish New Wave/Indie Rock act The Dykeenies. It was first released as a Double A-side with "Will It Happen Tonight?" on July 17, 2006. The band also recorded a video for the track. , and implemented a difference-making plan of action, a process that leads to their greater empowerment.
In this branch of the program, the transformation of the best solution to a developed and structured Action Plan is not left as a formal written and theoretical exercise. In CmPS the students must themselves carry out their Action Plans and implement them to bring about the desired result. They have reached what Treffinger, Jackson, Jensen, and Bohnenberger (1997) called the final and most crucial step in the thinking process--application.
In recent years, we have seen projects that have brought educational assistance to underprivileged schools in Africa; an Illinois team organizing textbook translation into Farsi and providing school resources to Afghanistan; a Texas group of junior students (grades 4-6) becoming involved in the lives and backgrounds of the Lost Boys of Sudan
Lost Boys of Sudan is the name given by aid organizations to refer to the more than 20,000 boys who were displaced and/or orphaned during the and facilitating their assimilation Assimilation
The absorption of stock by the public from a new issue.
Underwriters hope to sell all of a new issue to the public.
See also: Issuer, Underwriting
Assimilation into their new American community; middle-school students assisting a children's library in Fiji; and many others that have crossed national boundaries and placed students in the global world. A New York New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of team of high-school students brought international cooperation to the fore as they worked, via computer connection, with a class in Israel on the problems faced by the Russian emigres in Israel.
Students who have been involved in these activities have moved beyond the limitations of their immediate environments and confined con·fine
v. con·fined, con·fin·ing, con·fines
1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at hand. See Synonyms at limit. national issues; they now see themselves as citizens of a global world. Such a claim is easy to assert. Can we demonstrate that this approach has the desired impact on the students who participate in FPSP? Research conducted in both Australia (Volk, 2001a, 2001b, 2003) and the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. (Woythal, 2002) supported a student sense of growth in international awareness and global thinking. As one subject commented,
I think I've just become more globally minded. Before FPSP I guess I wasn't aware of much outside of that which affected me. But FPSP forced me to take notice of real issues that do or will face our globe. (unpublished quote from Woythal 2002 study)
This attitude is supported by the findings of investigations (Volk, 2001a, 2001b, 2003; Woythal, 2002) conducted among students in both Australia and the United States, who reported a greater capacity to deal confidently with the world problems they encountered. In the 10-year retrospective studies retrospective study,
a study in which a search is made for a relationship between one phenomenon or condition and another that occurred in the past (e.g. of the students who had taken part in FPSP during their schooldays, over 75% of the 137 respondents from four Australian states Noun 1. Australian state - one of the several states constituting Australia
province, state - the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation; "his state is in the deep south" (Volk, 2003) and 91 Americans from Iowa (Woythal, 2002) agreed or strongly agreed that their participation had developed their ability to deal with the complex social issues facing the world. Former students from Iowa talked in interviews about the impact of the program. One said, "I am more aware of global and national future issues because of FPSP research, and I feel confident in my ability to confront the future" (unpublished quote from Woythal, 2002, study). Another commented, "I have become more global. I understand my impact on the world and its impact on me" (unpublished quote from Woythal, 2002, study).
Some Australian students gave clear indications of the way in which this enhanced capacity had been achieved. They have acquired strategies to apply: "To solve these global problems, they will first need to be broken down into a smaller subset of problems, which could be solved more easily. FPSP has given me ... reassurance that there is a way these problems can be solved" (Volk, 2003, p. 209).
The students who emerge from the FPSP program have made it clear that they feel that their perspectives have altered. Not only was their interest in, or knowledge about the future expanded, but their attitudes also were perceived as having been deeply affected.
Whether it is in a Queensland student's sense that FPSP "contributed to my feeling that I must do something worthwhile to change the way we're heading as a global society," or in a Victorian girl's recognition that "problem solving skills are essential to the survival of humanity today and in the future" (Volk, 2003, p. 209), there is a realization that it is possible for problems to be addressed with a conviction of success.
This sense of efficacy in the words of former FPSP participants certainly offsets the feeling of helplessness so often mentioned as a characteristic of the gifted. These students are less likely to feel helpless to do anything about problems they encounter because they have learned and applied the skills of creative problem-solving while studying complex issues of the present and future in depth and thus have a knowledge base from which to begin their problem-solving. One Iowan student's feeling that "FPSP provides a feeling of efficacy and awareness ... FPSP offers a limitless sense that there is no problem that cannot be solved" (unpublished quote from Woythal, 2002, study) was echoed in another' s analysis of the personal impact the program had made:
I feel more optimistic about the future both on a social and global level because of the in depth research FPSP required. Students involved in FPSP do become the leaders of the future. On a personal level, FPSP has motivated my continuous involvement in community and my awareness of the problems of the world--and potential problems and possible solutions related to these issues. (unpublished quote from Woythal, 2002, study)
Australian students similarly saw being involved in FPSP as an empowering experience. "I found that with each new topic I did, I felt that developing a greater understanding of the area was directly correlated with my level of confidence to make a difference in that area" (Volk, 2003, p. 209).
For these young adults and thousands of current students, involvement in FPSP has been a significant factor in shaping their perceptions of their existence in a global context and their belief that they are able to make an impact on its future directions. They have achieved that sense of optimism that E. Paul Torrance set out to foster. FPSP coaches have provided the nurturing environment in which their students have been able to develop as confident and effective problem solvers, collaborative team members, and knowledgeable and globally aware citizens of the world.
When Simon emerged from the Disneyland teacup to comment to me, soberly, that FPSP had changed his awareness of the world, he was not alone. The 250,000 students who participate each year in FPSPI no longer have only a limited national perspective to bring to the future problems of our world. They see it globally. It has become for them a small world and one they can face with greater confidence.
Sincere thanks are given to program officials for their suggestions and comments on the article, in particular Deb Woythal for her valuable input.
Received 19 December 2006; accepted 25 March 2007.
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goes to Wizard of Oz to get brains. [Am. Lit.: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]
See : Ignorance
can’t live up to his name. [Am. Lit.: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; Am. Education.
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A lengthy, formal treatise, especially one written by a candidate for the doctoral degree at a university; a thesis.
1. , University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales, also known as UNSW or colloquially as New South, is a university situated in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. , Australia.
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ITAG International Trepanation Advocacy Group News: The magazine of the Iowa Talented and Gifted Talented and Gifted or Gifted and Talented may refer to:
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Address correspondence to Valerie Volk, 3 Bartlett Drive, Novar Gardens 5040, South Australia South Australia, state (1991 pop. 1,236,623), 380,070 sq mi (984,381 sq km), S central Australia. It is bounded on the S by the Indian Ocean. Kangaroo Island and many smaller islands off the south coast are included in the state. , Australia. E-mail: email@example.com
Valerie Volk is one of the Australian Affiliate Directors of the Future Problem Solving Program International, a program established over 30 years ago by the late E. Paul Torrance. The author, a former secondary school teacher and tertiary lecturer is a member of the International Board of Trustees board of trustees Politics The posse of thugs who oversee an institution's administration. See Board of directors. , and is closely involved in coach training for the program in many Australian states, Hong Kong, and Singapore. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org