about Joan Freeman
- School consultancies, seminars, workshops, lectures
- Supervision and examining post-graduate research at various universities
- Manuscript and book reviews for journals and book publishers
- Reports on assessment of educational projects, government and other organisations
- Legal expertise
- Writing reports for the UK government
- Private psychotherapy practice
- Joan has been invited around the world to address universities, Education Authorities, schools, and conferences, including – many places across the USA and Canada, South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil), the Far East (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, China, South Korea), South Africa, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ireland, Holland, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, Austria - and Britain.
Popular activities
- Frequent TV appearances on many channels
- Author of well over 400 articles and book reviews on child development,
psychology and education for both professional and lay journals, including:
- Times Educational Supplement
- Times Higher Educational Supplement
- Journal of Further and Higher Education
- New Society
- The Guardian
- The Teacher
- Psychology Teaching
- The Literary Review
- Psychology News
- Biology and Society
- Science and Public Affairs
- and her London Evening Standard column for parents
Current major research
Joan began her unique study of 210 children in 1974, comparing the recognised
gifted and the unrecognised gifted with their classmates. She is continuing
to direct this fascinating yet scientific look at what happened to them and
their families in 2003 with a generous grant from the Esmée Fairbarn
Foundation. Her rare skill is to 'translate' serious scientific work into
simple elegant English.
Honours
Because of Joan's work, attitudes to the gifted have changed, notably the
exposure of many myths about the gifted. She has received many honours, such
as inclusion in Who's Who, Fellowship of the British Psychological Society,
Distinguished Visiting Professorship, University of Alberta, visiting scholar
at the Rockefeller Foundation, Yale University, Hong Kong and South Africa.
She has been consultant to many endeavours, including the Chinese University
of Hong Kong, research and parent associations in Germany, Spain and Portugal
and to governments e.g. Israel, Bulgaria. In the UK she has been consultant
to Westminster City Council, many individual schools, Centre for Talented
Youth (Ireland), the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, the Qualification
and Curriculum Authority. She was the first witness to Parliamentary Select
Committee on Education and Employment. And in 2002, as a first for the Department
for Education and Skills, a conference address 'An Audience with Joan Freeman'.
