Bright or Gifted: Policy Development
Lets get to business: How should a centre go about writing a policy?
Taylor (1998) states that the preparation of a policy for gifted learners involves a lot more than writing. She suggests that before the process of "writing down" even begins educational settings should "pre-assess" or evaluate what practices and procedures are already in place that are benefiting the gifted learner and if there are asking: Are these programmes or practices meeting the requirements of mandatory statement (more explicitly DOPs)? How could centre practices be improved in this area? What else could be done? (Taylor, 1998). McNamara (1994) offers examples of other questions that could be asked when pre-assessing centre practices. These include: Why is such a policy needed? What should be in the policy if we do create one? How does the policy reflect our centre philosophy?
McNamara (1994) outlines a number of points to remember when setting out to write a policy:
- Don't attempt it alone. Include many people in the process of every stage – especially parents.
- Everyone should agree with and understand a policy if they have to work with it.
- Policy writing is not a quick process – it can take months!
(McNamara, 1994, p. 14)
Another process in moving towards developing a policy is identifying who will be involved in the implementation of this policy (McNamara, 1994). This initiates a move towards staff involvement, parent accountability, and community input. Riley (1998) suggests that communication is essential between the "key players" involved with gifted children as it leads to a more collaborative approach towards meeting the needs of the gifted and talented. McNamara states that "policies ensure common understandings between staff, management, parents, committee members and the community" (McNamara, 1994, p. 5). Within services there needs to be "centre-wide" commitment. All staff need to be dedicated to setting up and implementing the policy. It is also important to involve parents and value their input, as they too are entitled to have their say. Ask: What are the parents' opinions? What suggestions do they have? Do they feel a gifted policy would be beneficial in the centre? Do parents understand what will be involved? Have they had experience in this field before? Valuing the input of all members is an important step to ensuring that everyone's voice is heard. A suggestion is to put a proposal to parents, either on the noticeboard or in children's lockers/pockets. A letter/information sheet informing parents about the need that has arisen and welcoming their questions, suggestions or comments is often a good idea. An open meeting could be held to discuss giftedness and the development of a policy for the centre. The centre community needs to be aware of giftedness. Therefore it is the teacher's role as well as parents to advocate the need for recognition through a centre policy.
McNamara (1994) explains a process for writing policies. She suggests that educators and others involved in the policy writing process should "research" issues prior to writing the policy (McNamara, 1994). By this McNamara means policy writers should investigate accreditation, (e.g. DOPs); look at other policies that are similar to the one being written, has the centre got an inclusion policy? Equity policy? Special needs policy? Can comparisons be made? Another suggestion could be to visit the library to do further reading on the topic or to even look at websites to find any further suggestions. McNamara (1994) also suggests that centres should view other services policies. This may mean meeting with another service viewing and discussing how they went about writing the policy.
After collecting all this information and reviewing centre practices staff, parents and others involved can begin planning the policy. The Board of Trustees/Committee are generally the ones who formulate or write the policy. Discussion can be given into the implications that have arisen by proposing the idea of creating this policy (McNamara, 1994). What have parents suggested? What has been the general reaction? How do staff feel about it? What are the legal obligations we must adhere to? From here the drafting of the policy begins.