Gifted and talented students - Guidelines for the use of strategies to support

Policy and implementation strategies for the education of gifted and talented students

State of NSW, Department of Education and Training

2004

12 páginas

24m

ISBN-10: 0731383176

Educational programs: Strategies to support gifted and talented
students
is document is an adjunct to the New South Wales Policy and implementation
strategies for the education of gifted and talented students (revised 2004). Its purpose is to
outline some of the strategies that can be used to improve the outcomes of schooling
for gifted and talented students.
Developmentally appropriate programs for gifted and talented students incorporate
a combination of grouping strategies, enrichment, counselling interventions and
acceleration.
In programs for gifted students, teaching practices, grouping strategies and
acceleration are interdependent and strongly supported by research as central to
maximising learning outcomes for gifted students. However, the key ingredient in
the success of any gifted program is the provision of developmentally appropriate
opportunities by differentiating the curriculum (Van Tassel-Baska, 2000).
Differentiation ranges from slight to major modifications of the curriculum through
adjustments to content, processes and skills. It provides a planned, documented and
challenging curriculum that matches the ability of gifted students to:
• learn at faster rates
• find, solve and act on problems more readily
• manipulate abstract ideas and make connections to an advanced degree.
Differentiation should include enrichment and extension activities. Enrichment
refers to the broadening of the curriculum to develop knowledge, application,
thinking skills and attitudes to a degree of complexity appropriate to the students’
developmental level (Braggett, 1997). Enrichment activities are often found only
in extra-curricular provisions and need to be written into programs to ensure
all students have access. Extension activities involve the deepening of students’
knowledge, understanding and skills. ese concepts are consistent with the elements
of good practice, as described in the NSW model of pedagogy in Quality teaching in
NSW public schools: Discussion paper (NSW Department of Education and Training,
2003)