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Talents Unlimited Program

Talents Unlimited (@thinktalents) / Twitter

 

The Talents Unlimited approach to education was developed by Dr. Calvin Taylor. Dr. Taylor Researched the thinking skills that people needed in order to be successful in the world of work. Please click the red links below to access videos that explain each component in detail.

 This educational approach provides a unique way of delivering the existing curriculum that can be used  in all grades and all curriculum areas. It provides a common language for thinking skills, creates risk   takers, and places emphasis on thinking.

 All students at Westover are given an opportunity to learn higher level thinking skills through the Talents Unlimited Program. Here, the emphasis is on the development of thinking abilities which are   important to success in the work world and in school. These thinking abilities include:

  • Productive Thinking: Students think of many, varied, and unusual ideas. It this context "unusual" means a "one-of-a-kind" idea. The emphasis is on how many different ideas students can develop as a whole class.

Communication: There are six types of Communication Behavior.

  1. Give many, varied, single words to describe something.
  2. Give many, varied, single words to describe feelings.
  3. Think of many, varied things that are like another thing in a special way.
  4. Let others know that you understand how they feel.
  5. Make a network of ideas using many, varied, and complete thoughts.
  6. Tell your feelings and needs without using words.

Forecasting: Students are asked to think of many, varied and unusual ideas to examine cause and effect by answering one of two questions,

  1. What might have caused...?
  2. What might happen if...?

Decision Making: Students learn the steps of the decision making process.

  1. List the Alternatives.
  2. Develop Criteria Questions (to guide in choosing between alternatives).
  3. Weigh the Criteria Questions (not every question is equally helpful!).
  4. Use the Criteria Questions to make the Decision.
  5. Support the decision with many varied reasons.

Planning: Students learn the steps necessary to develop a comprehensive plan to carry out a decision.

  1. List the materials needed.
  2. List the steps to carry out the action.
  3. Think of the many, varied, and unusual problems that might occur.
  4. Think of many, varied, and unusual improvements to avoid or address those potential problems.