As part of the requirements for my Introduction to Gifted Education course, I have my preservice and inservice teachers watch five movies from a list of several dozen. While watching the movies, they are asked to use the Kingore Observation Inventory to determine ways in which the characters may be gifted. After watching Searching for Bobby Fisher, I was interested in finding out what had become of Josh, the main character of this movie. Josh Waitzkin was a chess prodigy, and Searching for Bobby Fisher was his father’s attempt to describe the journey from young boy to chess champion.
Josh Waitzkin is a gifted person with multipotentiality. Not only did he display giftedness through chess, he later became a Tai Chi champion. I learned from his website that he had written a book, The Art of Learning, and as a professor in teacher education, I was immediately drawn to the title. Several months later, at the National Association for Gifted Children’s Annual Conference in fall 2008, each participant was given a copy of Waitzkin’s book in preparation for his keynote address in fall 2009. Having previously purchased the book but not having read it, I had another reason to read this book.
I sponsor a gifted education book club selection three times per year, and The Art of Learning is my choice for summer 2009. Many of the participants will already have seen Searching for Bobby Fisher, and this book will be a great way for them to learn what became of Josh, as well as to read about the art of learning from the perspective of a gifted learner.
This book speaks to Josh’s ability to maximize his learning through passion, focus, automaticity through practice, intuition, reining in impulsivity, remaining open to continuous learning through a growth mindset, and preparation. While reading this book, I was reminded of others whose ideas have inspired me including: Coach John Wooden (The Pyramid of Success), Carol Dweck (Mindset), Jane Piirto (The Pyramid of Talent Development), and Art Costa and Bena Kallick (Habits of Mind).
HERO. It is such a powerful word! As a highly sensitive person, it takes just the right combination of words and actions for me to think of someone as a hero. There are many people in my life who I deeply respect, yet when it comes to being a hero, two men who I have never had the pleasure of meeting rise to my hero list. One man, at 97, has long-retired from his career, and the other, at just 32, is at the beginning of his. Both men are grateful for the life lessons they learned from their fathers.
John Wooden, was the coach of the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team when I was an undergraduate at UCLA. He is an award-winning coach who was named Coach of the Century for the 1900’s. While I enjoyed watching Coach Wooden and his basketball teams, he is my hero for his Pyramid of Success and for the life he lived both on and off the court. Framed versions of the Pyramid of Success hang in both my home and my office at Pacific University. According to Wooden, “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.” While his Pyramid was originally created for adults, he has since co-authored a book, Inch and Miles, that explains the true meaning of success. He very creatively uses animals as metaphors for the building blocks of success. For example, hard work is an ant, enthusiasm is a rooster, loyalty is a dog, alertness is a rabbit, and skill is a spider. Coach Wooden’s words and deeds make him an appropriate example for children and adults alike.
Tiger Woods rises to the rank of a hero because of his dedication to his passions: golf and his Tiger Woods Learning Academy. I remember how much I enjoyed his father’s book, Training a Tiger, and how Tiger had to finish his homework before he could practice golf strokes. Not only is Tiger a great example of a gifted perfectionist (and this is meant as a positive attribute), but he is also making sure that children less fortunate than he was have an intellectually stimulating place to learn important skills.
Two men who care about education as much as I do…they are my heroes. For a great website about heroes, see The My Hero Project website. I’d love to hear about people who have risen to your hero list.
