12th International ECHA Conference, Paris, 7-9 July 2010

In 2010 it was agreed to hold the 12th ECHA conference in the beautiful city of Paris. Purpose was to showcase the latest research on children with high potential and present different educational experiences for these children, and to bring together specialists from around the world; it was a key event for accessing up-to-date knowledge on the topic and networking with specialists. The conference was held on 7-9 July 2010 and the title was “Perspectives on the evaluation of giftedness: from Binet to today“.

The conference was organized with presentations in English and French and took place at the Institute of Psychology of Université Paris Descartes.Chairman was Todd Lubart, who worked together with Maria Perreira-Fradin.

“On the 7-9 July 2010, the 12th ECHA International Conference will take place at the university Paris Descartes. Bringing together world known specialists on the subject of giftedness, the ECHA biannual conference has become a fundamental event for advancing the state of knowledge on giftedness and presenting innovative methods in gifted education. This year, the main theme of the conference will be “Perspectives on the evaluation of giftedness: from Binet to today”. Invited speakers are respected specialists on giftedness and talent both from the United States and Europe. They include Dr. Carol Dweck, professor at Stanford University, USA, and specialist in gifted education, Dr. Franzis Preckel, Chair of Gifted Research and Education at the University of Trier, Germany, Dr. Jacques Grégoire, professor at the University of Louvain, Belgium, and specialist in issues concerning identification of the gifted. Other invited speakers will be Dr. Javier Touron, professor at the University of Navarra, Spain, post-president of ECHA and founder of the Spanish Centre for Talented Youth, Dr. Roland Persson, professor in Education at Jönköping University, Sweden, Dr. Ugur Sak, professor and director of the Division of Gifted Education at Anadolu University, Turkey. As it will take place in France, we have also invited French specialists to present the state of affairs in giftedness and talent research and practice in France. For example, Dr. Pascale Planche, professor at the University of Brest will present her research of the cognitive development of gifted children. Dr. Marcel Rufo, child psychiatrist and professor at the University of Marseille medical school will present his work with gifted children in his clinical practice and finally, Dr. Sylvie Tordjman, child psychiatrist and professor at the University of Rennes will present her work at the French Centre for Gifted in Difficulty in Rennes, of which she is the director and founder. This centre is the first and only of its kind in France.”
(Maria Pereira-Fradin, ECHA News vol. 24 no. 1 April 2010)

“The conference venue is the Faculty of Psychology, opened in 1999, which usually receives 4,500 students in the humanities, primarily in psychology. In July, classes are completed and the building is available to host the conference. The oldest and largest library of psychology in France is located in our faculty. It has funds of Henry Pieron’s private library and regularly inherits archives of our most important researchers and psychologists.”
(Maria Pereira-Fradin, ECHA News vol. 24 no. 1 April 2010)

Approximately 300 participants from 37 countries attended the conference. Keynote speakers were Prof. Dr. Ernst Hany (Germany), Prof. Carol Dweck (USA), Prof. Françoys Gagné (Canada) and Prof. Javier Tourón (Spain).

There was a short film made at this conference, which can be viewed through this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCiBHZ69lXc