Teach-Primary-Issue-19.2

F EATURE S PA S TORA L www.teachwire.net | 35 Perhaps there are; but how would you know? If whispering talents exist in our classrooms, and we’re serious about helping every child to achieve their potential, we need a way of identifying them. So, how might we do this? Rasmus Ankersen writes that, “Measuring people’s performance is the wrong way to approach the task, and it’s especially likely to overlook talent that whispers.” Current performance – test results, work completed in lessons – is not what will point us towards future successes. A child not yet achieving their potential is easy to overlook, precisely because their current output isn’t exceptional. Stephen Francis, the head coach at MVP, the Jamaican running club that has produced many of the world’s fastest sprinters, says “I look for [athletes] with the greatest development potential.” It’s this developmental potential that we need to spot in the children in our classrooms. “To spot real potential you must be able to look beyond [current performance] and identify the complex, multi-faceted qualities that help someone learn and keep on learning, to break barriers and to work beyond inevitable plateaus,” writes Ankersen. So, what are those qualities? What are the values, the attitudes and the ways of working and thinking that we might glimpse in children if we really start to look? What sort of mindset might these whispering talents have, and what might motivate them? Recently, I got to work with a school that wanted to nurture pupils with great development potential. The staff decided upon the following qualities as key indicators of children who might be whispering talents: • Is ambitious • Possesses a belief that they will succeed • Displays high levels of effort • Has a hunger for learning • Appears to learn at a quicker pace • Is willing to learn from mistakes • Shows resilience when things are hard • Always goes the extra mile • Demonstrates attention to detail • Seems to have an inherent ability • Holds a long-term view of achievement • Is creative and innovative • Possesses a problem-solving mindset When using such criteria, it’s important to remember that it’s likely a child might only display this potential in a single subject. The above traits may not be visible across all subjects. We should be vigilant in all subjects, making sure that we don’t just prioritise talent-spotting in maths and English, and giving any child who shows promise the chance to shine. You’ll have noticed that I used the phrase ‘some of these qualities’ in the last paragraph. It would be rare for any single child to display all of the listed qualities. Realistically, you might identify a number of them as being present in a child, but not all of them. Indeed, the qualities from the list that a child identified as a whispering talent doesn’t display might be their areas for development – the things that, if developed, will enable them to go on to achieve their potential. And it’s not just the whispering talents we can identify. The same criteria can also be used to look for every child’s relative talent – the thing they are best at. It might not be the case that they will ever be world-class in that particular area, but it might be the thing they eventually get their best GCSE grades for, the thing that brings them the greatest pleasure and wellbeing in life, or the start of their journey into a career. Talent is everywhere. Where is it in your classroom? Which children could be excelling, but are not yet doing so? Have a go at seeking them out, so that you can really begin to nurture and develop their potential. TP How to spot whispering TALENTS Aidan Severs is an educational consultant with over 15 years of teaching experience. aidansevers.com @AidanSevers @aidansevers.bsky.social Identifying untapped potential in your pupils requires leaning into what a little nurturingmight reveal, says Aidan Severs W hat is a whispering talent? I hear you ask. Well, put simply, it’s someone with potential, but who is not yet performing highly; someone who, with the right training and opportunities, will flourish and achieve at a high level. The term comes from George Anders’ book on recruitment: The Rare Find: How Great Talent Stands Out, and it’s a concept we can apply in the classroom. Are there pupils in your class who have the potential to do really well, but who are currently not achieving what they might be capable of?