Keynote Speakers
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First Day (Monday: August 24, 2009)
Neuroscience and Learning in Preschool and School
Prof. Dr. Dr. Manfred Spitzer
Ulm University, Germany.
Monday August 24, 2009 (09:30-10:30)
The human brain weighs about 1.4 kilograms, making up about 2% of one's total body weight. Yet it consumes more than 20% of the energy required by the entire body. A fifth of all the calories we take in supply the brain with energy. When food is scarce, having a big brain is an incredible luxury. Since food was scarce throughout much of human evolution, it must have meant some considerable advantage to have a huge brain, compared to the disadvantage it entails: it burns a lot of energy. When feeding yourself means searching for roots and nuts, it would seem to be better to have no brain, and save 20% of the effort. But we do have brains, and for a good reason: The brain contains billions of neurons that code events and things in the world around us. Thanks to the brains we have, we humans can do things that other animals cannot. We are incredibly flexible, populate places in almost every type of climate, and have even taken first steps on the moon. Of course tigers have sharper teeth, elephants are stronger, leopards faster, and polar bears better adapted to the cold, whales swim better than we do and albatross can fly. But in contrast to all these beings threatened by extinction, the human brain enables homo sapiens to address a plethora of environments, tasks, and challenges, instead of being specialized for one particular thing. The fact is: Human beings has a great capacity to learn, and they learn better than any other species in the world. Teeth, muscles, fur, fins, and wings are not as decisive for this edge on the others as simply having the right brain. From this perspective, it makes you wonder why many people are so afraid to go to school and to learn. They don't like it. While small children are naturally curious, preteens often react bored when confronted with new information, concealing the fact that it frightens them. Adults and elderly people are often anxious about new things. They yearn for the good old times (which perhaps weren't really that good). How strange! Why is this so? To learn means to change yourself. You do not just remain the way you were, with a little something added. You really change. Incorporating new knowledge always changes a person. Biological systems have no other manner of learning. As humans, we are not just aware of our surroundings, we are also conscious of ourselves, our feelings, our own personal histories, our limits and the fact that we cannot live forever. When we are confronted with something new all these thoughts are not necessarily brought to our attention, but it is quite probable that the mind subtly updates them. We feel uneasy. Learning new things implies a risk of identity, as it were (the experiences and values that make up your personality will change). That can seem scary. Children have no trouble with this. They are just beginning to develop their identities and whatever they learn encourages that process. They learn a new word every ninety minutes, entirely unafraid and without cramming! But once we get settled in our ways, once we believe we know who we are and feel secure about our identity, novel experiences can throw us off track. This is why many people experience anxiety about wanting to learn new things, and are particularly frightened if they feel obligated to do so. Observe how participants in adult education workshops and courses titter, cautiously "sniff" each other, and then go out for a drink together: all ways of dealing with the fears of learning new things (and meeting new people). Representations of the world get generated and altered continuously in out brains, and it is this very process that we call learning. Brains and their components, the nerve cells (neurons), are specialized in creating and changing representations suggested by stimuli in the environment. Certain nerve cells stand for certain aspects of the environment, like edges and corners, fragrances and sounds, a mother or a father, faces, well-known places, words and meanings, plans, desires, and values. Representations are not simply images derived from perception. Actions (like tying your shoe), associations (dark clouds mean rain), values (cooperation is desirable), goals (having a family) and language get represented in out brains, basically all in similar ways, by out brain processing all this material.
Where Does Creativity Fit Into a Productivist Industrial Model of Knowledge Production?
Prof. Dr. Hisham B. Ghassib
Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Jordan.
Monday August 24, 2009 (14:00-15:00)
The basic premise of this presentation is the fact that science has become a major industry: the knowledge industry. The presentation throws some light on the reasons for the transformation of science from a limited, constrained and marginal craft into a major industry. It, then, presents a productivist industrial model of knowledge production, which shows its components, mechanisms, bases, rules and specificities. Accordingly, it locates the place and role of creativity and innovation in its processes. This leads to constructing a new model for the scientific method and scientific practice.
Innovation Policy and Strategies
H.E. Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan (Federal Minister for Education and Research)
Bundesministerin für Bildung und Forschung, Germany.
Monday August 24, 2009 (18:00-19:00)
Innovation policy is more than just research policy. Many conditions have to be right in order for new ideas from science and research to be able to develop their potential for benefiting mankind. Science and industry have to be brought together in application-oriented projects. Entrepreneurs are dependent on venture capital. Quality standards can strengthen consumers' confidence in innovative products. And fast-growing sectors need sufficient numbers of young skilled workers. This is why the German government is using its High-Tech Strategy to bring R&D funding and efforts to shape the general parameters for innovation together in one comprehensive innovation policy. All decisions being taken across a very broad range of policy fields will be examined to determine their implications for research and innovation conditions in Germany. The German government will continue to develop its sectoral innovation strategies in the course of a dialogue with science and industry. The newly created Industry-Science Research Alliance will be in charge of this task. In addition, the Germany's High-Tech Strategy establishes objectives for 17 cutting-edge fields of the future - fields that will generate new jobs and prosperity in Germany. A schedule and concrete campaigns have been set up for each of these objectives: For the first time ever, each area covered by innovation policy will have a clear timetable that takes into account both research funding and prevailing conditions. The focus here will always be on opening up new markets or developing existing markets into lead markets. Logistics, security and health are examples of areas where this could be done within a short time. Germany will also create more freedom by fostering more competition along the interface between industry and science. Co-operations and common projects will be supported as never before. Examples are research grants for universities and non-university facilities that win research contracts from small or medium-sized businesses, the support for clusters of excellence, or a competition to single out outstanding examples for the exchange between science and industry. The Federal Government gives with its High-Tech Strategy new impulses for a faster transfer of research results into products, services, and processes. In today's knowledge society, education, training and lifelong learning are the most important prerequisites for an individual's future opportunities in life and employment, as well as for social participation and social integration. Our international competitiveness depends on the quality of our institutions of higher education. Improved structures in continuing education will make Germany fit for the challenges of the future. These are the Federal Government's priorities in order to open up educational opportunities for everyone. We need to reorient our education policy. Our school system must enable more children and young people to earn higher education qualifications. This includes a higher performance level as well as more social skills. In schools, the strengths and individual abilities and background of each child must be in the centre. The principle of challenging and supporting must be followed consistently. An education reform therefore requires a national effort of all stakeholders and a broad debate in society across ideological barriers.
Second Day (Tuesday: August 25, 2009)
Dual Structures as Element of Quality Management and Enhancement of Excellence.
Prof. Dr. Rudolf Tippelt
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany.
Tuesday August 25, 2009 (08:30-09:30)
An important objective of educational systems in knowledge societies is to provide young people with a high level of employability and excellent professional action competency. This professional competency has different components: technical, methodological, communicative, social, participatory and action competency. In this context, education can be seen as the reception, development, and integration of experience and knowledge in all phases of life, from early childhood to old-age. “Dual structures” of learning are helpful as it means that industrial and private institutions collaborate with educational institutions systematically. Within the system of dual structures, current areas of interest which must be considered to improve and create excellence include curricular constructions, professionalism in teaching, and a coordinated knowledge management system (generating, storing, communicating and transfer of knowledge). One of the present challenges of partnerships and inter-linkages between the educational system and the labour force is the transfer and the cooperative development of relevant knowledge for practise and the continuous improvement of chances for students in their transition from education to work. Especially important are new concepts of qualitiy in scientific education and further training in cooperation concerning universities and enterprises.
What is behind Breakthrough Innovations? The Phenomenon of Individual Innovation
Prof. Dr. Larisa Shavinina
Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada.
Tuesday August 25, 2009 (13:15-14:15)
Today innovation is the cornerstone of economic prosperity, scientific discovery, technological invention, and cultural vibrancy. Despite the ever-increasing importance of innovation in society, one should acknowledge that innovation does not happen very often. In sharp contrast to the conventional wisdom of innovation science emphasizing that (1) innovation is a team sport, and (2) people are good either in generating ideas (i.e., creativity) or in their implementing into practice (i.e., innovation), just to mention a few dogmas, I found that there is a rare group of individual innovators. They possess by a unique ability to both generate great ideas and to implement them into practice in the form of new products, services, and processes by putting into place all the necessary organizational (e.g., creating a research lab as T. Edison did or setting up many new company as R. Branson did), human (i.e., hiring the best talent), and 'environmental' (e.g., changing the dominant working culture as A. Morita did when he almost rejected the traditional Japanese way of doing business at Sony) structures. This keynote presentation describes the phenomenon of individual innovation and explains its nature in the case of famous innovators with longstanding records of breakthrough innovations. My research demonstrates that individual innovators are characterized by a rare combination of highly developed creative abilities, practical intuition, applied wisdom, entrepreneurial giftedness, managerial talent, excellence, persistence, and courage. While persistence and courage of innovators are understandable, nothing is known about the unique combination of the other elements. My goal is to understand their essence and the joint functioning in outstanding individual innovation. This research has a great potential to advance knowledge in innovation science, creativity, education, business, management, economy, and public policy.
Third Day (Wednesday: August 26, 2009)
The Psycho-Social Development of Highly Gifted Persons
Prof. Dr. Detlev H. Rost
Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany.
Wednesday August 26, 2009 (09:45-10:45)
The Marburg Giftedness Study (MGS) is aimed to shed some light on the psycho-social development of highly gifted persons. The longitudinal MGS is financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Science and the Philipps-University Marburg. The initial sample consisted of more than N = 7000 unselected German primary school children attending the third grade. They were tested with three intelligence tests during the school year 1987/1888: Cattell's Culture Fair Tests of Intelligence for Children (CFT, assessing non-verbal reasoning), Verbal Analogies (ANA, assessing verbal reasoning) and Number Connection Tests (ZVT, assessing speed of information processing). From this nation-wide unselected sample the target group I of N = 151 gifted children (defined as children with an outstanding cognitive potential -- i.e.general intelligence g) was selected (TG1, mean IQ = 136; 58% boys). The control group I comprised N = 137 children with average general intelligence (CG1, mean IQ = 102), matched according school, class, gender and socio-economic status (in some cases an appropriate control child was not available). During the school year 1988/1989 trained psychologists visited the children's homes und teachers (two half days) to collect many data concerning personality, motivation, self-concept, interests, leisure-time activities, play behavior, psycho-social adjustment, peer-relations, achievement-related cognitions etc. (four data sources: children [now attending the fourth grade], fathers, mothers, teachers). In the school year 2004/2005 all TG1- and CG1-children (now attending the ninth grade), their parents and their teachers were again assessed (variables similar to those assessed during the investigation at primary school age; response rate 98.6%). In 2005 a second target group (TG2) of highly achieving youth (ninth grade; N = 134; 59% girls) was added, selected according to their outstanding scholastic achievement. The control group 2 comprised youth with average scholastic achievement (CG2, N = 122). TG2 and TG2 were matched according to the variables school, class, gender, and socio-economical status. The variables collected were identical to those gathered from TG1 and CG1. Additionally, from 1990 onwards (TG1, TG2) respectively from 1996 onwards (TG1, CG1, TG2, CG2) once a year a postal data collection took place. The response rate exceeded always 90%. The MGS is still running. The main methodological features of this longitudinal study are outlined, and selected results concerning the non-cognitive correlates of intellectual giftedness in childhood and youth are presented.
Creativity and its Measurement in Future Minds
Prof. Dr. Todd Lubart
Université Paris Descartes, France.
Wednesday August 26, 2009 (14:00-15:00)
Creativity, defined as the ability to produce new, original ideas that are contextually relevant, is increasingly viewed as an important ability to solve current and future problems in personal, occupational, and societal spheres of activity. In a first part, the psychological factors that are important for creativity will be explored. In a second part, different methods available to measure creative potential will be described, compared and contrasted. These methods include production-based tasks, auto-evaluation questionnaires, and judgments by peers or others. The presentation will highlight some recent measures of creative potential that may be used in diverse educational contexts. In a third part, the major theoretical issues, such as the distinction between creative potential and actual creative performance, the distinction between different kinds of creativity, and the debate on general creative ability versus several field-specific creative abilities, will be discussed.
Fourth Day (Thursday: August 27, 2009)
ADHD: Disorder or Gift?
Ken, Andrea, & Amber McCluskey
University of Winnipeg, Canada.
Thursday August 27, 2009 (09:45-11:15)
As the term itself indicates, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder is, in fact, typically viewed as a "disorder." And certainly, hyperactive and inattentive children present some interesting challenges at home, at school, and in the community. This workshop highlights many of the problems, and acknowledges that the prognosis sometimes "far from benign." However, an attempt is also made to put a more positive spin on things by recasting reality and pointing to the creative strengths that frequently go hand in hand with the condition. To illustrate, with proper support, might not stubborn behaviour in childhood grow into determination in adulthood? Might not inattentive daydreaming turn into creative invention, overactivity into productive energy, and off-the-wall behaviour into outside-the-box thinking? The overall intent is to offer a humane, flexible approach to help parents, teachers, and other caregivers turn negatives into positives, and identify and nurture the talents of an oft-misunderstood population.
Developing Creative Talent in the Sciences and Arts: What are we doing well and how can we do better?
Prof. Dr. Rena Subotnik
American Psychological Association, USA.
Thursday August 27, 2009 (14:00-15:00)
This keynote speech will focus on factors that play important roles in different stages of creative talent development in the sciences and the arts. What does it take to be an excellent candidate for a selective program, to be a star in that program, and to achieve and sustain a successful professional career? Ability is certainly important, as well as opportunities to learn. We also know that psychological factors play an outsized role both in terms of instructional strategies and what Subotnik calls "psychological strength training" to help sustain oneself in the face of sacrifices associated with creativity.
Expanding Visions of High Ability Through Interdisciplinary Creative Association
Dr. Don Ambrose
Editor, Roeper Review, Associate Dean, Liberal Arts, Education, & Sciences, Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ - USA
Thursday August 27, 2009 (16:45-17:45)
How can research on altruistic rescuers in the field of political philosophy change our ideas of giftedness? Can we learn more about high ability by scrutinizing the dogmatic mind-entrapment plaguing economic theory? Understanding high ability (giftedness, talent, creativity) requires insights from multiple academic disciplines because the nature, nuances, and dynamics of gifted minds are too complex for understanding from within the confines of one or a few disciplines. This session reports findings from two wide-ranging interdisciplinary projects that imported relevant theories and research findings from diverse disciplines and then applied them to scholarship in gifted education and creative studies. In one project, 87 theories and research findings were borrowed from 26 academic fields, were cross-referenced to generate creative, interdisciplinary, conceptual bridges, and then were applied to scholarship on creativity, giftedness, and talent to generate new ways of thinking about high ability. The other project brought work from prominent scholars of giftedness and creativity together with the work of leading scholars from disciplines not normally considered in high ability fields to build bridges between research on ethics and scholarship on giftedness. Both projects expanded the conceptual scope of gifted education and creative studies and generated novel ways of thinking about creative intelligence. The session explains the rationale and investigative approach employed in the projects and then gives examples of creative insights gleaned from the interdisciplinary connection making. Disciplines within the scope of the projects included cognitive science, complexity theory, economics, ethical philosophy, evolutionary biology, law, neuroscience, the history and philosophy of science, political science, and theoretical physics, among others.