Talent Development Model – A Strong Work Ethic

The Talent Development Model of education assumes children will develop a strong work ethic. Hard work is a core component of talent development. It implies that a child practices diligently, is dedicated to excellence, does the gritty homework, pays attention to detail, and exercises self-discipline.

by Charles Debelak 

This article was written for the Birchwood community by Head of School Charles Debelak. His writing provides parents with information about sound educational principles and child development issues gleaned from history, contemporary research, and his 50+ years of educating, coaching, and counseling children, young adults, and parents.

Without a strong work ethic, it doesn’t matter how smart you are, or how many opportunities you have been given, or how privileged you are, or from which philosophical, religious, or cultural orientation you come from, you will not develop your talent.

A strong work ethic that leads to the development of talent, generally includes four components: deliberate practice resulting in mastery, resilience, intellectual and physical commitment, and an awareness of the history of talent development, both collective and personal.

Let’s begin with deliberate practice.

Practice means you perform some skill, or review some body of information, or do some activity, again and again and again until it becomes part of you. With enough practice this “something” becomes second nature like walking, talking, or knowing how to function as a member of your family. In the case of skill development, practice creates automaticity, muscle memory, fluency in action – a fluency that the unpracticed does not have and cannot make up with raw talent. For example, take a look at the training regimen of successful athletes or musicians. You will find practice, lots of practice, practice that is often boring, tedious, painstaking, and relentless. It is practicing that results in talent excellence – fluent, elegant, inspiring. Of course, I understand the caveat that the nature of practice is also important, nevertheless, the premise holds – talent development requires practice.

Practice also applies to intellectual work. Practice means engaging with subject matter until you understand it, you own it, it becomes a part of who you are. Through practice you are facile with facts, principles, and themes embedded in the subject. Through practice – hours of study, review, or hands-on experiences – information is stored in your long-term memory ready to be called upon when required. Intellectual practice means rigor – mastering aspects of your talent field that you may not naturally enjoy but you realize that if you don’t do this gritty work, you will not know your field, you will not develop your talent, and finally, you must settle for mediocrity.

Related to education we ask, “How does a child learn and embrace the principles of hard work through practice?” First, it won’t come through lectures and preaching. Reciting to children famous quotes or scientific research about the value of practice and hard work, might help the learning process, but we all know that you can tell children a million times, “Practice makes perfect,” and they will be unaffected. What they need is firsthand experience. Not once, not twice, but repeatedly over an extended period of time. They need to practice until they get good.

But don’t think for a moment that they can do this on their own. If you want your children or your students to learn the value and place of hard work, they will need you to hold their hand, stand beside them, encourage them, speak words of support and persistence, and remain steadfast in their efforts, until they can forge their talent to a new level of achievement. In other words, it is actually the dedication of an adult who creates and manages an environment of practice in which children learn the value of hard work that brings latent talent to measurable achievement.

It should be noted, however, that creating and sustaining environments which demand hard work is, in itself, hard work. Neither students, nor teachers, nor parents look forward to the process. As soon as a task becomes difficult, as soon as raw talent cannot master a task, or as soon as a child (or even we adults) starts to whine, “this is too hard,” everyone wants to quit. The child does not like being made to do something he or she no longer wants to do. Parents or teacher don’t want to confront a child’s resistance. It is so much easier to lower performance standards, to claim “this is good enough.” Nevertheless, it is exactly at these moments that the adults in the room must recognize the need for their loving, yet firm and unrelenting hand. The child does not know what is best for him. He does not understand the process by which practice results in talent development. Rather the parents or teachers, having a clear view of how to develop this child’s talent, must step in and supply the willpower, the energy, and the encouragement whereby the child will persist in practice.

Given this kind of coaching environment, children discover and embrace the idea that if I want to get good at anything, I need to work hard. I need to practice. It will be tiresome, it may be tedious, and it might even be boring, but it is necessary. At this point, practice is something children accept, not avoid.

From the Clipboard newsletter published in March 2019.
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