Recognizing Darwin’s Influence on Education

Sir Francis Galton was a well accomplished man who was also a cousin of Charles Darwin, the man who wrote the book The Origin of Species, which the reading by Galton is described in Wikipedia as “an event that changed Galton’s life.” Galton is well known for devising the first weather maps and a method for classifying fingerprints. He also established a subject of scientific inquiry which is still referred to and used in modern day educational journals, what he described as “natural gifts.” The concept of giftedness. He also advocated encouraging early marriages of people of high rank to provide a better class of offspring which would in turn improve society.

In his book Talent is Overrated, author and Fortune Magazine Editor, Geoff Colvin, discusses Galton’s idea of “eminence.” “Galton’s view was simple: Just as height and other physical traits tend to be inherited, so does “eminence.” He proved this theory, he said, by “showing how large is the number of instances in which men who are more or less illustrious have eminent kinsfolk.”

If you were to research “gifted children” on Google, a host of books, groups, and definitions abound. Articles include such titles as Preserving the True Self of the Gifted Child, Bright vs. Gifted: The Difference, and The True Story of a Gifted Child with Down Syndrome. The idea of the gifted child is a generally accepted fact in our culture.

As an academy, Bios Christian Academy, is designed to support our parents in the training of their children. We side with those who argue that the existence of talent is not supported by long term research. What is supported is the concept of hard work, great teachers, and supportive parents. The term “deliberate practice” is used to describe the idea that focus and hard work is the main method of how people succeed (and we would add God’s grace). The concept of “deliberate practice” replaces giftedness as an explanation of outstanding achievement.

Returning to “Talent is Overrated”, Mr. Colvin writes on the absence of innate talent. “In a study of outstanding American pianists, for example, no one could have predicted their eventual high level of achievement even after they’d been training intensively for six years, at that point most of them still weren’t standing out from their peers.” In other words, looking back the present day outstanding pianists showed nothing in their first six years of playing as musicians who were going to stand apart from their peers in the future.

Well, you might say, what about Mozart or Tiger? And the answer is both are great examples for the argument of “deliberate practice.” Both started their areas of expertise at a very early age, both had fathers who started their sons on very intense training programs early on, enjoyed teaching the prospective areas, and provided greater teachers than themselves when it was needed. Johann Bach was one of Mozart’s instructors. Both were very hard workers. Both Tiger and his dad, when asked to explain his success would give the same answer: hard work.

This “deliberate practice” idea is much more than stating “everyone is gifted” or “everyone is not gifted.” What I am saying is to forget the concept of giftedness. Consistently in broad studies over many years in areas as vastly different from each other as chess, violins, and football, the people who excel consistently work harder, more deliberately, longer, and with better teachers than everyone else. This is not a popular idea I think because it is much easier to say my child is gifted than my child had to work harder than everyone else to make their accomplishments.

Let me finish with a comment by K. Anders Ericsson, a researcher from Florida State University “the differences between expert performers and normal adults reflect a life-long period of deliberate effort to improve performance in a specified domain.” His statement and research over the years rejects the idea of “eminence” or the you’ve-got-it-because-you-were-born-with-it idea. He and others like him have helped explain the contradiction of years of research which shows “eminence” talent doesn’t exist and instead how the concept of “deliberate practice” explained earlier is demonstrated.

Bios Christian Academy works daily under many ideas. Those ideas include the Bible is inerrant, supporting parents in the training of their children, and “deliberate practice.”