Europe, Gifted Education

Giftedness as part of national school curricula in Europe has been, and still is, surrounded by some controversy because school systems generally and invariably reflect the philosophical foundation and the political will of any nation. The European Union alone accounts for 27 nations, each of which has a different culture and political structure, often a different language, and not least, a different view of how to cater for gifted students. Some national education policies state it is of the utmost necessity to accommodate their needs, whereas others do not use terms such as giftedness or talent at all, suggesting that these students do not qualify for any special consideration. School systems currently indifferent to the identification of and provision for the highly able tend to divide students somewhat arbitrarily into categories of “strong and privileged” (that is, easy-learners including the gifted and talented) and “the weak and needy” (that is, the slow learners and the learning disabled).

Europe is ambivalent toward selecting and providing for gifted students. One faction argues the right to be different for the common good, in which case, special provision for talent as well as for the learning disabled is seen as a necessity. The other faction, however, argues the right to be similar—also for the common good—in which case, selection is seen as creating an undemocratic and privileged societal stratum that denies the rights of all children to develop their full potential.

Gifted education as an academic discipline as well as national education-political effort does not yet function across Europe in the same way as it does in the United States or in the Asia Pacific Region. Typically, European endeavors in the area of gifted education have concentrated on alerting policy makers to the students' special needs and encouraging legislation for its implementation. Success varies greatly. A handful of researchers—interestingly, all psychologists—are largely responsible for pioneering gifted education and related issues in all of Europe, namely Joan Freeman (United Kingdom), Pieter Span (the Netherlands), Franz J. Mönks (the Netherlands), Kurt A. Heller (Germany), and Harald Wagner (Germany).

This entry describes gifted education in European countries and discusses the European approach to serving gifted students.