RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

Gifted Children in Romania

It is rather hard to ascertain the exact number of gifted children in Romania, but estimates speak about some 4% of new-borns. This figure is higher than the European average of 2%.

Gifted Children in Romania
Gifted Children in Romania

, 19.04.2013, 16:19

One area where parents generally fail however is raising these children with very high IQs. And even if they had the expertise, Romania lacks the special schooling units matching their off-the-limits potential. Professor Florin Colceag, an international expert in excellence education, spoke about Romania’s gifted children.



Florin Colceag: “Romania ranks among the countries with exceptionally good rating in this field. I specialize in intellectual giftedness, I also tutored a great number of gifted people and I recognize a genius when I see one. Intellectual prowess is reported in only a small number of peoples, Romanians included. IQ standards are off the charts in the case of Chinese, Indians, Russians, Jews and Romanians. The word that best describes this condition is complexity. Such people have an absorbing capacity in several fields, can grasp several dimensions of a problem at several complexity levels, and this is particularly valid for Romanian gifted people. Paradoxically, Romanian giftedness is especially associated to the village idiot paradigm. The gifted types are usually confronted with overpowering situations, have no support in their efforts to overcome it, they face a complex array of problems, and for these reasons they’ve developed a certain capacity to solve high-difficulty problems, a capacity both extraordinary and unique. Unique is perhaps too much said, but it is a kind of capacity that only a handful of people exhibit, the ones I’ve just mentioned. Other peoples have developed different strands of giftedness, such as technical or administrative giftedness, but we Romanians are the chaos type. We thrive on chaos, and that’s the extraordinary side of it. Even if millions of Romanians have fled Romania, people who were top professionals, this did not deal a deathblow to our genius population. The fact that we are still facing the same problems we’ve always been facing doesn’t dent our giftedness whatsoever. On the contrary, today’s generations have some extraordinary abilities from an early age, many of them becoming overachievers at a later stage in life”.



Although it is not a rule, usually the minds of gifted children are ahead of their physical growth: they make connections between ideas and establish relations between concepts, while at the same time displaying remarkable concentration capacity.



Florin Colceag again: “At three years of age, children have the three characteristics of geniuses: curiosity, a sense of freedom and confidence in people. Most of them lose these traits as they grow up, because they are not encouraged to use and develop them. Ten years later, therefore at 13 years of age, their genius traits are gone, because kids had to integrate in an environment that rejects geniuses. They have to be less different, because being different from the others entails rejection. This is one of the greatest lessons children learn.”



Instead of being brought down by adverse social and economic reactions, gifted children put their natural potential to use, professor Florin Colceag says. Next he tells us more about the abilities of child prodigies in Romania:



Florin Colceag : “It all depends on age. At an early age, the capacity of Romanian gifted children to distinguish between what is significant and what is not and to create relevant scenarios equals that of the Jewish prodigies, in other words it is very high. Unfortunately, this capacity is not encouraged. If it were, we would have outstanding performances in a wide range of domains. Then come inventiveness and creativity, which grow at an extraordinary rate until the age of 12. If not encouraged, they stop developing after this age, but where there is an encouraging environment, they continue to develop and reach exceptional levels. Later, in teenage years, we have far-sightedness and the integration capacity, but on the other hand there is also the need to get away from a system that suffocates them. It doesn’t give them the strength to go on, it doesn’t allow them to breathe, it eats into their liberties. Hence, what we call the ‘brain drain’. We fuel the West with the intelligent people we educate.”



According to Florin Colceag, 80% of the gifted children grow up to be mediocre because they have not been involved in skill development programmes. The methods recommended by professor Florin Colceag for identifying and maximising the potential of gifted children include the feedback method. This involves parents and teachers discussing with kids and asking for their opinions at very early ages, to draw their attention to relevant details, to encourage them to create scenarios, to give them complex information and, not least, to ensure their contact with nature, which will leave a mark on their attitude.

Klaus Iohannis and Maia Sandu (photo: presidency.ro)
The Future Starts Today Friday, 01 November 2024

The Republic of Moldova Closer to the EU

The citizens of the Republic of Moldova voted, on October 20, in favor of amending the country’s Constitution to support its accession to the...

The Republic of Moldova Closer to the EU
Sursa foto: pixabay.com
The Future Starts Today Friday, 18 October 2024

October, the European month of cybersecurity

The European Cyber Security Month is an annual campaign that promotes awareness and best practices in online cyber security, providing information on...

October, the European month of cybersecurity
Ana Aslan
The Future Starts Today Friday, 11 October 2024

The Pace of Aging

“Youth is about optimism, well-being, and a goal to fight for” – this is the creed that underpinned the work of Ana Aslan, one of...

The Pace of Aging
(foto: unsplash.com)
The Future Starts Today Friday, 04 October 2024

Major plan for the re-industrialization of Romania

For the first time in the last 35 years, a major plan for the re-industrialization of the country was announced in Romania. With a value of 3 billion...

Major plan for the re-industrialization of Romania
The Future Starts Today Friday, 20 September 2024

Energy for the future

    Over the past few years, the European Union has managed to withstand critical risks to its security of energy supply, regain control...

Energy for the future
The Future Starts Today Friday, 13 September 2024

Cyberspace vulnerabilities

More than 8.5 million computers running Windows software were affected by the world’s largest Internet outage in July this year. The figure...

Cyberspace vulnerabilities
The Future Starts Today Friday, 09 August 2024

Good Immunity as a Prevention Measure

Defined as the body’s ability to defend itself against viruses, bacteria and parasites, immunity plays a crucial role in maintaining health....

Good Immunity as a Prevention Measure
The Future Starts Today Friday, 02 August 2024

Disinformation Online

Based on seven key principles, UNESCO’s plan to combat the rampant spread of online disinformation and hate speech aims to protect the...

Disinformation Online

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company