Gifted Education: Yes, We Can.

Xaver Heer and Jean-Jacques Bertschi founded Talenta in 1998 - a "high risk project", contrary to, mainstream ideas and a lot of misunderstandings and obstacles from public and expert opinion leaders. But as they had received so many calls of despair from kids and parents, they started with 9 pupils and two part-time teachers, and ended up in a well balanced provate school with around 50 kids and 6 teachers (with an average of a 60% job). As neither Zurich University, ETH Zurich nor the Institute of Education of Zurich was willing to undergo the successful and well known school with a deep, external evaluation and analysis of its effects, Jean-Jacques Bertschi organized a lot himself, collected facts, wrote down the struggles with the Zurich authorities (and how and why Talenta was always on the winning side - honest and selfcritical). Today, it is clear: Yes we can! But it requires modesty, open eyes, a lot of stamina ..and love of the young and sometimes wild talents. Beyond political correctness, the group of highly gifted kids, so crucial for our world of tomorrow, are still discriminated by state schemes of educated. Of course, they need more attention - but this is nothing more than a fair challenge of their possibilities.