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Sherrlene Uy

Teacher - English and Research, Glendale School, Inc. (QC, Phil)

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What are the challenges that gifted and creative individuals face at present?

Hi everyone! I am working on a research about the gifted and creative individuals. I'd like to know what are the challenges that the gifted and creative people experience in your country. Share your thoughts please :) Thanks!

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  • larissa lloyd

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    Mar 17 2013: I think it literally goes to down to finding, like spirits... we are all coherent to ours only some choose in a sense to unpurposely veil there creativity,

    something i seen two days ago,
    Is it popular?
    Is it current?
    is it etc, etc, etc

    to is it right?

    forgetting; is it you? to be creative is to be self, with an essence of permanent yet fleeting ideals in character, to see the creativity as "actual creativity" also to see it as; you need to understand wavelenght, via another individual (as this helps to see it as "actual creativity" and not average, all is creativity through the eyes of the autistic, training perception and mindfulness not to subconsiously shrug it off as "unnormal, a fleeting ideal"

    As for involving locality, i'm not sure, northeast england is at a loss, i have searched. (museums, groups, universitys, the only thing that comes close there's some pretty good dancers here, lol)


    I have gone through this discussion, several pages, yet my writing disappears... Therefore, i will try again here....

    the question i have found you ask, is "how do we nurture the creative"

    One educational system, two thoughts streams, do not teach the esoteric, but yet symbolise the difference between left and right brain, coming to a unified level, at whatever consiousness the student can reach. There is no more creative than the creation&essence within,

    The da vinci - academy, as to give it it's proper name,
    3 bridges rightbrain, leftbrain, and a centered field

    bridging to one exam, of illiterate capacity, brain trained and held in the individual (not persona), for them student to keep as a personal record, for themselves only to use how they wish (to quite unlimited potentional)

    Demonstrate: ticky boxes
    Show: they can demonstrate the hidden (ie the hopelessness of attachment to a specific, and rerationalising the rest in coherently to self and outwardly though a sensory medium to other)

    (running out of, i feel the goverment should take credit for it, karm

  • Lewis Smart 20+

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    Mar 17 2013: We live in a time of saturation in terms of the produce of gifted, creative individuals. It is my opinion that there is so much great art, music, design, film, philosophy and academia in easy reach right now that as far as making a living goes it's like trying to sell sand in the desert.

    I think that interesting new opportunities now exist in terms of resynthesising, analysing, synergising, remixing the existent field of created things. Ie, it's probably hard right now to make ones way as an artist or creator, but I think there are many opportunities for organising and creating knowledge about art and creation.
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    Frank Rothstein

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    Mar 17 2013: I always kid around that I am an `Idea Man.` It started as a joke but sometimes, as with many situations, we have to make something from nothing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The biggest obstace I usually encounter is getting others to listen. One thing i usually tell people is to think in 3D. So that is what leave you with, do not be afraid to try and make something from nothing and...

    Think in 3D.

  • Yesni Greidanus

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    Mar 16 2013: 2 Thumbs up for u Ms Uy 4 the questioning and request for answer's to your Q!
    I see a lot of my answer are incl by others and especially that from Marc which hits home for me.

  • Jim Ryan

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    Mar 16 2013: Tuan Le, business and gov's don't want smart people, they want people that they can easily control and do what they want, without question. There is a saying and it goes like this, "It's not what you know, but rather who you know.

  • Christine Aglot

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    Mar 16 2013: Also, I think it is important to differentiate between gifted, creative, and artistic. These characteristics are compatible of course, but do not necessarily go together.

  • Christine Aglot

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    Mar 16 2013: I have been fortunate enough to be able to attend 2 different high schools in 2 different countries, and I found a staggering contrast between the mentality behind the education system of these schools. In the school I attended in Australia, students that were "gifted and talented" had the possibility of taking part in various extra-curricular activities or enriched courses, even during school hours. Also, there was an extensive choice of elective courses available for all students. In contrast, the schools in Quebec in general tend to have a more standardized education system, so all students go pretty much through the same educational path. There are no real possibilities for extensive or enriched learning and creativity within school hours, and even outside of school hours extracurricular activities are limited.
    Therefore, the former educational system allows for the gifted to use and develop their potential, whereas the latter I daresay almost inhibits this. The talented students can easily get bored in regular classes, as they don't need to pay attention or put in that much effort while still getting good grades. This can gradually turn into laziness for some, a habit which can be hard to get out of when reaching higher education (university and so on) where one does need to put the effort in.

  • Jim Ryan

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    Mar 16 2013: Wow and here I thought I was alone in my thoughts. A pleasure to make your acquaintance Simon.
    The corporations bribing congress have made it so that they can change any patent by a small percent and steal the working mans chances to get ahead. The schools dumb down the kids and the stock market is another huge set of taxes on all that are not investors or insider traders.

  • Jim Ryan

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    Mar 16 2013: Schools refuse to teach children how to think for themselves. The gov schools want people that are cubicle smart, but they want the population to follow authority, so that those with money and power, can retain the money and power. People could be many times smarter, if the gov didn't purposely dumb them down.

    How could a scientist be so ignorant?



    Lenski's antibiotic claim.

    Original work
    By Jim Ryan
    Supported by evidence

    Lenski and or lederberg should have had the sense to reverse the experiment, to show that when 10 million antibiotic resistant bacteria were cultured, they produced one that was non antibiotic resistant. One or both should have cultured 10 million bacteria that were non resistant, to see if an antibiotic resistant bacteria developed.
    Bacteria may develop both every 10 millionth one as a memory device. If so, that should tell science quite a lot.

    I have a lot more that proves even the people controlling science are dumbing down the populations of all nations.

  • Tuan Le

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    Mar 16 2013: As a high School student, I believe that being gifted and creative might not equal to academic success. I am considered bright and creative by many but I really struggle to perform up to my expectation. There are few choices in syllabus which also emphasized a lot on repetitive practices and regurgitation of theory. This exam-oriented asian mentality sucks the interest out of studying and I find myself really disenchanted with the system in the end.

  • tom short

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    Mar 16 2013: Humility and courage. The former is lost when these children are identified as gifted early on, and then put in situations where their self-esteem is closely protected; The latter is lost when these kids grow up following their heads rather than their hearts - choosing careers over vocations (i.e., 'their calling').

  • Ed Schulte 50+

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    Mar 16 2013: If a person is Truly "gifted" and "Creative"

    Then they will also be "aware" enough to stay far Far away from such attitudes and the elitist mentality such as displayed here in this quote. (Not only that but save themselves $7,500" too!!!)

    "Each year, the world's leading thinkers and doers gather for an event many describe as the highlight of their year. Attendees have called it "The ultimate brain spa" and "A 4-day journey into the future, in the company of those creating it." There are now several ways to participate in a TED conference.. "

  • Marc Archambault

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    Mar 16 2013: I consider myself both gifted and creative. I am currently experiencing my own challenge. I lost my job because after years of working in a mode I was not comfortable in, I couldn't fit into the role allocated to me any longer. So now I am a creative person looking for a job and finding that we live in a world where people expect art to be free and where making a living through creativity is considered a dream accessible only to the privileged few blessed with extraordinary talent and/or luck and the right connections.
    The world pays lip service to encouraging creativity in children, but leaves few avenues open for those so encouraged to realistically engage in it as a vocation. Rather it is relegated to the status of a hobby, or channeled into more productive and marketable skills. It is seen as something of a burden which, building inside like an unexpressed emotion, must be vented through a 'creative outlet'; as if this expression of what makes us human were not among the most amazing and utterly unique occurrences in the natural world, but a symptom of an unfortunate mental state. People say they wish they were creative. What they mean is that they believe they would enjoy being able to create something, to introduce a part of themselves into the world and give it a life apart from themselves. They really only wish they were just a little creative, just enough to reap the benefits with none of the repercussions that come from trying to find your way in a world where pursuing creativity means your options are both limitless and extremely limited, but never secure.
    Being creative means exposing your inmost self, making yourself vulnerable, and suffering or glorifying in the consequences.
    For a creative person to choose a creative path - speaking from the limited perspective of one just starting that journey - is both terrifying and tantalizingly exciting.

  • charlotte horton

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    Mar 16 2013: As a society we say that we celebrate the gifted and the creative. As an artist and someone who works with children who have learning disabilities, autism, and ADHD I can tell you this is not true. It is not until you have reached some level of success that society finds you acceptable and praise worthy. If you are a child that does not fit into the cookie cutter mentality you are not nurtured. They (the normals) talk about you discussing your oddities using it as a source of amusement and wonder.

    As a society we need to stop trying to stamp out cookie cutter children and let them reach the potential they were born to reach. Who cares if every child can do geometry or write a 5 paragraph essay? That ADHD kid might be the next Xgame athlete. That autistic child might stamp out cancer or figure out the God particle. That ADD kid might be slow because they are thinking of the next philosophical revolution. That artistic child that does not want to follow the rubric in art class might be the next Picasso.

    Until we stop trying to fit every child to the same mold we will stifle the light of many that have been born to lead us into the next creative evolution.

    Charlotte Horton

  • Grant Schumacher

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    Mar 16 2013: Lack of challenges in mathematics & sciences in the US, especially related to middle & high school education (ages 12-18) due to poor teachers or "dumbed down" curriculum.

  • Ben Hipkiss

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    Mar 15 2013: I believe that gifted and talented individuals are held back by todays financial hardships.

    The increase in the price of living and education has a negative impact on the possibilities these individuals may choose in their pathway to happiness and success ,whatever that may be defined as.

    It seems a struggle if you are not financially supported to really take the opportunity to make the most of their creativity and talents.

    • Robert Ostman

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      Mar 16 2013: agreed..
      countries like India are starting to help their citizens with the cost of tuition, while in Mexico no bank will help you.

      in others like USA this assistance is old news, yet at the gross price of tuition that they are charging each person, the student ends up in huge financial debts

      that's a nightmare!
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    Trey Thompson

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    Mar 15 2013: Oh yes, let me think.
    1. Parents not understanding
    2. Destructive enviornments
    3. Peers not understanding them
    4. Feeling the world around you needs to step up a peg
    5. Hoping people will stop being judgemental

    Just to think of a couple.
    I told this one student in my class that I wanted to be a teacher. He said how, you're blind?
    Of course he was an intellectual, but still he thought so. He was an outcast, but still he thought so.
    I thought that if I can do as well as the other students in my general education class then why not. All it takes is an idea for things to evolve, for people to evolve. The mind is powerful.
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    simon love

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    Mar 15 2013: 1: Being different at school..top of the class...envy, even hatred.

    2: Underfunded education whereby there is no possibility of extended learning

    3: Inadequate teachers who dislike curiosity

    4: Societies run by average intellects and bullies

    5: Inadequate parameters for creativity (this overlaps into funding for sciences and its corporatisation).

    6: Acknowledgement that gifted and creative individuals are often somewhat different from the mainstream and should be nurtured rather than ostracised by all but their own kind

    7: Problems finding a partner, relationships in general.

    8: Substance abuse

    9: Boredom

    10: Depression and inertia

    11: The wonderful effect of understanding new truths and illumination

    12: The almost overwhelming curiosity about everything and how it works

    13: The wonderful exploratory communication between like minds
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    Christopher Halliwell

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    Mar 15 2013: TAG students are often the target of bullying, since they represent everything that some people will never be.

    • larissa lloyd

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      Mar 17 2013: That's a very modest, yet very powerful statement. You have great spirit, is there any chance you'd like a penfriend, your inspiration in writing. Very curious to your cultural background, can't even pinpoint you, leeds? northeast london? or even budapest, ... lol, there's gifts and there's the gifted, your certainly gifted.

  • Robert Ostman

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    Mar 15 2013: A big challenge is to be in a degree that allows invention of goods like industrial design and have your inventions stolen by the professors and classmates.
    Another big challenge is to be able to find the industry/factory that is up to the task of making your inventions, without it trying to take all the profits, and or steal the invention.

    another one is to live in a way where for you there are no "limits or borders", while others keep blocking your chances just because they fill like doing so.

    Another one is to want to work with NASA and have NASA stop your dreams because they only work with corporations GGGG
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    vishesh gupta

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    Mar 14 2013: hello...
    its true that centralization is a major issue...but all opportunities cannot b provided everywhere at once...
    so there should be a balanced development of resources so that the students who feel that they are not getting the opportunity, should get the resources that are essentially needed...
    and also we should focus on developing areas that lack opportunities..this would help to find out more hidden talent...
    what do u say?

  • Mohan Dass

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    Mar 14 2013: Teach kids how to manage money, allow them to concentrate about creative and practical thinking, this will be a start.
    Change the social structure and teach kids that every productive citizen in any society should be given some recognition for their contribution to the society regardless to where they live to town or country, financial status, or class.
    Recognise the contribution of the community as a whole.

  • Bill Kitsch

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    Mar 13 2013: I encounter that quite a bit from different quarters Sherrlene. That is a very good analogy.

    Trying to even get the idea that there is another possibility across, seems futile. Much less the actual substance of those possibilities.
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      Sherrlene Uy

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      Mar 14 2013: Hi Bill! Sent you a message ;) Hope to hear from you soon! Thanks again!
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    vishesh gupta

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    Mar 13 2013: hello Sherrlene..
    i think schools should not only limit the course of studies to books.... students should b given more of practical sessions and they should b taught to find solutions to general problems.....
    instead of giving them an all day class schedule, they should in intervals with practical examples.....they should b allowed to analyse n solve problem themselves....
    this would help to get the creative ideas of the students....
    students have high potential of creativity....it should b enhanced instead of being surpressed...
    thank you
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      Sherrlene Uy

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      Mar 14 2013: Hi Vishesh! True! I agree with you! It's a bit sad to see kids migrate to the cities because they think there are MORE opportunities there... Centralization of everything is another problem, perhaps? What do you think?

    • Robert Ostman

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      Mar 15 2013: in that regard I think it is very important to start with the economy of the student, this is, wile all should have access to the proper education, the capacity of a person to pay for goods should not be forgotten, I am not suggesting to charge more to those ho can pay, instead I am suggesting the access of goods that in most schools are not offered, under the excuse/argument that all should have the same chances and the same education, if the student can afford better hardware/software there should not be limits as this are affecting his/her chances of prosperity & are affecting the interests of the individual.

      schools for the poor should focus on teaching techniques, and this should be the ones most needed, as if the student has to leave school, or has to start working, he/she will have the skills of a technique that really pays, I see that a lot of schools have been teaching random general knowledge, regardless that the poor do not need that sort of knowledge, they need money, more than anything else, the techniques to make money should be what is the main focus and not something else.

      if the student has the money to live and pays bills, then and only then should other things be considered.
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        vishesh gupta

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        Mar 15 2013: hey Robert..
        well true...people who can afford have no limits....
        but how do we get the unfortunate ones who are talented, to compete with them?
        n yea...working skill is more important than getting educated...
        would you agree to say that learning skill and technique is more important than only reading books?

        • Robert Ostman

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          Mar 15 2013: You say "how do we get the unfortunate ones who are talented, to compete with them?".

          I say: The best short answer is.... we don't!...

          It is unfair for the nature that depends on us, for the society that we live in, for the rich and for the poor, to create such idea, the poor and the rich live in the same country yet their goals are quite different.

          Consider that each one has a role in this world and having a stranger steeping on your toes wont make you very happy!

          And yes learning a skill is more important than reading books, plus books are for those ho don't have internet.

          With the internet I can learn by my self 2 to 4 times faster than in school!, plus I can focus on what I really need and not on what a stranger wants to trow my way, as would be in a school.

          The goal is to have the poor making a income that allows them to capitalize, to be able to pay healthcare and all the daily expenses.

          The ugly thing is that all the nations already know this, and only a few "act" accordingly.
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        vishesh gupta

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        Mar 16 2013: ok..i agree to your point here...
        n yes....most nations dont work accordingly...
        thanx Robert..
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    Sherrlene Uy

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    Mar 13 2013: Hi everyone! Sorry it took me a little while to get back ^^
    Thank you so much for all your inputs! I shall be reading them one at a time now :D
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