Summary: Getting started
- Frequently, educational initiatives for the gifted and talented are short-lived. This often occurs when the impetus for a new development resides with a single staff member.
- A new programme is more likely to develop and endure if it is based on relevant school policy and implemented through a team approach.
- A policy should be developed through consultation in the school and community.
- A policy for the education of gifted and talented students should address the following issues:
- Why provide differentially for these students?
- Who are our gifted and talented students in the school?
- How will we co-ordinate our approach?
- What are we going to do?
- Where are we going to do it?
- How and when will we do it?
- How will it be resourced?
- Professional development is particularly important in this area because most teacher education pre-service programmes offer only brief introductions to educating gifted and talented students.
- Effective professional development:
- is collaboratively planned
- is tailored to the nature and needs of the individual school
- covers conceptions, identification, programming, curriculum differentiation, teaching methods and resources, and special groups of gifted students
- addresses areas of concern.
Related readings
For links to a range of online reading material by New Zealand authors about gifted and talented education, go to the G&T Related Reading for School Policies and Programmes site.
Research
The Extent, Nature and Effectiveness of Planned Approaches in New Zealand Schools for Providing for Gifted and Talented Students
This research was commissioned by the Ministry of Education in response to a recommendation made in the report from the Working Party on Gifted Education and to inform the Ministry of Education's development of policy for the education of gifted and talented students. The purpose of the research was to determine how schools provide for these students and the efficacy of these approaches.
The section of the report entitled 'Overall Coordination of Gifted and Talented Education' relates to the topics discussed in 'Getting started'.