Gifted education in modern Asia: Analyses from a systemic perspective

When we were invited to comment on chapters describing gifted educa·

tion in Asian countries, we were reminded of Mikhail Gorbachev's famous

dictum "Life punishes those who delay." Asian countries entered gifted

education and research on excellence relatively late compared to many

Western nations (e.g., Stern, 1914). Nevertheless, there are examples that

suggest the opposite may be true, that is, latecomers might also have some

advantage. A famous example for the latter claim is the case of the Golden

Gate Bridge and the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. Both are suspension bridges

linking the U.S. city of San Francisco to Marin County and the Japanese

city of Kobe on the mainland of Honshu to Iwaya on Awaji Island, respectively.

When the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began in 1933, the longest span of 1,280 meters seemed almost impossible to build. However,

half a century later in 1988 when the construction of the Akashi Kaikyo

Bridge began, the architects could take advantage of the experiences of

their predecessor. While many consider the huge Japanese bridge a highly

intelligent copy, the copy clearly surpassed its model. At the time it boasted

the longest central span of any suspension bridge in the world at 1,991 meters.

The height of the highest pylon was 282.8 meters compared to Golden

Gate's 227.4 meters.

The first Asian country to enter the stage of gifted education was Taiwan

in 1962. Other countries such as China (1978), Korea (1983), Singapore

(1984), and Turkey (2000) followed later. In our contribution, we want to

speculate whether Gorbachev's admonition applies to gifted education in

Asia or whether Asia was able to build a much more "advanced bridge"

than its Western predecessors.