Regular classroom programme
Gifted and talented students spend most of their school education in regular classrooms, which can be tailored to fit individuals by way of careful planning and instruction, flexibility, and resourcefulness.
New Zealand classrooms are particularly suited for gifted and talented students when teachers make conscious decisions to implement The New Zealand Curriculum Framework as intended - based on the assessed learning needs of students and with the flexibility to adapt instruction to individual levels.
Some of the strategies suggested in the diagram on the 'Continuum of opportunities' page for transforming the regular classroom into an appropriate learning environment for gifted and talented students are described more fully under the following sub-headings.
Individualised Education Plans (IEPs)
Based on assessment and team planning, IEPs involve setting goals for individual students. These plans reflect:
- what the student already knows
- what the student needs to learn
- what differentiated activities are to be offered.
The involvement of teachers, curriculum specialists, parents, and especially the students themselves should ensure a plan that meets unique cognitive and affective needs.
Planning, monitoring, and review are crucial to the success of IEPs. Effective IEPs require commitment and communication, and can be very time consuming.
Learning centres
Providing a choice of activities based on high-interest topics, learning centres can be designed to both challenge and stimulate gifted and talented students (Winebrenner, 1992). By creating a range of activities suitable for many ability levels and learning styles, these centres allow for individualisation and independence.
Centres may be a library corner, science table, file folder, or colourful box containing activity cards, books, tapes, magazines, equipment, or videos. Centres should:
- focus on important learning goals
- provide instructions for students
- include a system of monitoring for completion and quality
- include means of assessment.
Some schools may share these centres across classrooms or centrally locate them in a school resource room or library.
Curriculum compacting
This technique streamlines the curriculum by basing instruction on pre-assessment of skills and knowledge.
Previously mastered curriculum that might otherwise be repetitious is eliminated, giving students opportunities for enrichment and acceleration. Because pre-assessment is the start of compacting, basic skill mastery is assured, allowing students to 'buy out' time to pursue individual strengths and interests.
Small-group or independent study
Individuals or small groups of students may investigate topics related to the curriculum, and to personal interests and strengths. Ideally, study of this nature is student selected and directed. However, in initial experiences, teachers may give students choices from which to select, gradually scaffolding students towards independence.
Teachers guide students through:
- topic selection
- investigation planning
- goal setting
- presentation of their discoveries.
Teachers should facilitate study of this kind through time management, timetabling, availability of resources, checkpoints, specifically taught skills related to research and product development, and finally, assessment.
Teachers may manage a small-group or independent study by using a learning contract, that is, a formal negotiation between teacher and students that specifies content, processes, and products, within a given timeline.
Grouping
Students may be flexibly grouped within the classroom and across the school day according to abilities and/or interests. Teachers plan ability groups on the basis of assessed skills and knowledge.
Though this is a common practice, particularly in many primary classrooms, teachers need to keep in mind that there may be students 'beyond the top group', creating a need for off-level assessment in order to adequately place students. Interest groups may arise more spontaneously, with direction given by student curiosity rather than assessment.
Tiered activities, whereby all students work with the same essential skills, but in different directions based upon needs, may complement grouping. It should be noted that co-operative learning groups that have the purpose of academic/intellectual growth work best for gifted and talented students when they are grouped homogeneously, rather than heterogeneously (Robinson, 1997).
It seems that the notion of gifted and talented students bringing up or helping out less able students may be a myth, with traditional co-operative learning groups often leading to frustration and lack of challenge for the gifted and talented. However, heterogeneous grouping does have some benefits, such as meeting the service component for gifted and talented Māori students. Thus a careful balance of grouping practices must be ensured.
Consulting teacher
Another option for meeting the needs of gifted and talented students is to have a specialist teacher working within the regular classroom with individuals or small groups of gifted and talented students.
This requires close communication and co-operation between the specialist and the regular classroom teacher. In some cases, the consulting teacher may work alongside the regular classroom teacher, supporting the teacher's development of specialised opportunities for the gifted and talented.
The consulting teacher may therefore work directly or indirectly with gifted and talented students within the regular classroom setting.
Integrated curriculum
Using broad-based, conceptual themes, this option involves the integration of multiple disciplines, allowing learning across wide issues as opposed to narrow topics. For example, the themes of discovery, survival, or exploration may be umbrellas under which many disciplines and subtopics are explored.
This approach may be used with all students, with gifted and talented students having the freedom to pursue topics of choice in accordance with their individual needs.
Correspondence school
Another possibility worthy of exploration, particularly for rural students, is The Correspondence School (Green, 2000). Gifted and talented students may be enrolled in correspondence courses when the school they attend is unable to provide appropriate enrichment and acceleration.
The Correspondence School provides for gifted and talented students, allowing those in the top 5 percent of their age group to study extra subjects in a variety of areas.
Distance education allows students to pursue subjects outside the normal school offerings and in a manner that matches individual rates of learning and completion. The courses can be facilitated in the student's usual classroom environment, with guidance and flexibility from the teacher.