Potential is not limited: All kids are capable of ‘high performance’

Abrainchild of professor Deborah Eyre, high performance learning (HPL) is a research-based philosophy that states all students have the potential to be high-performing, not limited by ability.

The framework is teaching and learning-based, which aims to grow and develop cognitive skills. Schools should strive to continuously improve, and the decision should be

made to utilise this framework to give structure to the maintenance of a growth mindset.

For centuries, it has been accepted that a person’s ‘talent’ was fixed. As a consequence, there were people who were deemed to be talented or intelligent — those who were able to perform at the higher levels and get higher grades in exams. By definition, therefore, there were also those who were not.

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority is keen on the term ‘giftedness’, where all students are given the opportunity to find their strengths and build on them.

Talents are identified by teaching staff, parents, students. For example, if a student is competing for their country in sports, it is usually the parent or child who will tell the school and records can be updated accordingly. This works in the same way with music, drama or dance and so on — usually identified through exams or opportunities.

Teacher assessment in subject areas can also be looked into and the criteria will be based loosely around Renzulli’s Model of Giftedness.

Giftedness cannot be identified straightforwardly, and educators have to make sure that all students have the opportunity to achieve. It is important that no student is restricted from doing any activity within and outside the classroom.

Based on CAT scores, schools can identify those students who have high academic prowess (through the CAT4 data), but more forward-thinking schools tend to use this as internal information to differentiate lessons for those students of all levels, as this is not the only device to recognise student potential and it would be problematic to do so.

The CAT4 data allows teachers, for example, to have a look at where a student may have a high verbal score and use strategies in the classroom to draw on that strength. Likewise, we can see where a student may not have a high score in one of the areas and we can adjust our teaching and resources for that student.

HPL provides a route map by looking at two elements: the characteristics of advanced cognitive performance, and the values, attitudes and attributes of high performance. While this may sound quite advanced, it does not actually mark a significant change in direction for the best teaching.

An example: One of the attributes identified by HPL is empathy. High-performing students should understand how to collaborate, they should understand their context and place in the societies in which they exist. While this has always been the case, I would question whether it has been explicitly taught. Through HPL, students will not only be empathetic, they will understand how and why they are empathetic

Giftedness cannot be identified straightforwardly, and educators have to make sure that all students have the opportunity to achieve.”

and, most importantly, how they can be empathetic in their future. This explicit teaching is the difference.

HPL also recognises the vital role that parents play in helping their children fulfil their academic potential. Eyre has also written a book specifically to guide parents on what they need to do. Again, this stresses that potential is not fixed and parents play a vital role in helping their children to learn the habits of high performance. This includes helping to develop resilience and recognising the place of failure in the path to success, encouraging curiosity and discussion, and the value of key questions.

All of these, and many more, are the behaviours that can set every student on a secure path to success.