The good
news is that in the last decade greater education policy requirements have been
placed on schools to address the needs of these children. However it is one
thing to make policy but many schools find it difficult to find the expertise
and resources to ‘walk the talk’.
In
their bid to fulfil their responsibilities, many schools provide ‘pull out’
programmes grouping children together for a few hours each week providing some
‘one off’ stimulating activities that excite these very capable children. One
very positive spin off from this approach is G.A.T.E. children get the chance
to engage with like minds. Sometimes these children are put up a class level.
It works for some but it is socially very risky. There are various ‘one day’
fee paying G.A.T.E. schools operating and some schools recommend parents enroll
their gifted child(ren) into one of these.
However
these options do not deal with the fundamental issue. G.A.T.E. children deserve
to have their educational needs, including social needs met every day. Their
minds need to be challenged and engaged throughout their school life!
This
is very achievable when the curriculum is well understood, planned and
differentiated appropriately. Schools must build on the interests of students providing
them with the skills so they have more control over the topic or content they
wish to pursue allowing the opportunity for individual and independent study. The exciting 21stC education technology rich paradigm supports and
further empowers the learner. This interactive
approach encourages creativity, deep flexible thinking and access to a broader
range of higher level resources.
Sometime GATE children can fly ‘under the radar’ of
teachers. They can ‘bomb’ in standardised tests because of cognitive processing
challenges or for some other reason including issues around attendance or
social problems. However, there is an abundance of research on what works for
GATE children and how to identify them. Over the years experts have regularly
referred to Renzulli (1978) who developed a definition of gifted and talented
children based on the interaction of three basic clusters of human traits:
- Above average ability
- A high level of task
commitment
- A high level of creativity
Renzulli and Reis (1985) claim that gifted and talented
children “are those possessing or capable of developing this composite set of
traits and applying them to any potentially valuable area of human performance.”
(1)
It must be emphasised that all the characteristics above
may not be highly advanced in equal proportions.
“It’s probably also true to say that whatever their area
of ability, GATE children will tend to ask more insightful questions, be better
than others at seeing relationships and patterns and at predicting
consequences, be more curious and persistent in exploring concepts and seeking
answers, stay focussed for longer and build up more detailed and ‘expert’
knowledge. “ (2)
It is an exciting time in education providing schools take
up the opportunities available to unleash their students’ motivation and
potential.
We are working as a staff to ensure all our children’s
needs are met. It is a tall order to get this right 100% of the time but we are
aspirational and will strive to do our very best including meeting the needs of
our GATE children.
(1) Renzulli, J.S. and Reis, S.M. (1985) The
Schoolwide Enrichment Model: A Comprehensive Plan for Educational Excellence.
Creative Learning Press.
(2) Cathcart R.
May 1997 p. 6 Tall Poppies
NZ Association of Gifted Children
Picture from : https://www.google.co.nz/gifted+and+talented+students
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