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The Extent, Nature and Effectiveness of Planned Approaches in ...

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way, competitions allow students a chance to ‘showcase’ their special abilities, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> do<strong>in</strong>g so, theyreceive recognition <strong>and</strong> acknowledgement <strong>of</strong> those (Davis & Rimm, 1998; Riley & Karnes, 1998/99).As Campbell, Wagner, <strong>and</strong> Walberg (2001) state, “One can create an arena where <strong>in</strong>dividuals areallowed to perform some task or set <strong>of</strong> tasks with those be<strong>in</strong>g selected as eligible whose level <strong>of</strong>performance is judged superior, by whatever def<strong>in</strong>ition or criteria” (p. 524). In this way, competitionsmay serve a dual role: identification <strong>and</strong> provision (Riley & Karnes, 1998/99).Competitions may be local, national or <strong>in</strong>ternational <strong>and</strong> range from school-based science fairs to the<strong>in</strong>ternational Future Problem Solv<strong>in</strong>g Programme. Additionally, they may be designed for <strong>in</strong>dividualstudent participation or group entry. Campbell et al. (2001) believe that competitions operate on fiveassumptions:1. Students who are talented need to be identified early.2. Competitions are needed to supplement schools which are lack<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> differentiatedcurriculum resources appropriate for gifted students.3. Competitions will attract students with extraord<strong>in</strong>ary talent.4. Competitions will motivate early talent development.5. Once talents are developed, the expectation is that those will contribute to society.Given this rationale, they describe three types <strong>of</strong> competitions utilised <strong>in</strong> the United States: teams <strong>of</strong>talented students; long-term <strong>in</strong>dependent research projects; <strong>and</strong> tests to identify exceptional talent.In New Zeal<strong>and</strong>, many <strong>of</strong> these different types <strong>of</strong> competitions are available, though scarcely reported<strong>in</strong> the literature. For example, Riley <strong>and</strong> Karnes (1998/99) suggested a number <strong>of</strong> competitionsavailable to New Zeal<strong>and</strong> students <strong>and</strong> though this list is not comprehensive, these <strong>in</strong>cluded the FutureProblem Solv<strong>in</strong>g Programme, CREST Awards, <strong>and</strong> BP Technology Challenge. Holton <strong>and</strong> Daniel(1996) describe competitions for gifted mathematicians, <strong>and</strong> these <strong>in</strong>clude the programmes <strong>of</strong>fered bythe New Zeal<strong>and</strong> Mathematics Olympiad Committee. Holton <strong>and</strong> Daniel (1996) state, “Competitionsprovide a wealth <strong>of</strong> problems to challenge bright students” (p. 212). <strong>The</strong>y also describe many waysteachers can use competitions <strong>in</strong> their classroom environments. Macleod (1996) also provides<strong>in</strong>formation regard<strong>in</strong>g competitions for secondary students <strong>and</strong> Le Sueur (1996) outl<strong>in</strong>es competitionsfor primary <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>termediate students.One <strong>of</strong> the most acclaimed <strong>and</strong> recognised competitions, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten used with gifted <strong>and</strong> talentedstudents, is the Future Problem Solv<strong>in</strong>g Programme developed by Dr Paul Torrance <strong>in</strong> 1974 (FutureProblem Solv<strong>in</strong>g, 2003). This creative problem solv<strong>in</strong>g programme serves thous<strong>and</strong>s <strong>of</strong> students <strong>in</strong> theUnited States, Australia, New Zeal<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> Korea. It <strong>of</strong>fers both competitive <strong>and</strong> non-competitiveoptions, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Team Problem Solv<strong>in</strong>g, Community Problem Solv<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>and</strong> Scenario Writ<strong>in</strong>g. <strong>The</strong>Future Problem Solv<strong>in</strong>g Programme began <strong>in</strong> New Zeal<strong>and</strong> at Raumanga Intermediate School <strong>in</strong>Whangarei <strong>and</strong> Tauranga Intermediate School <strong>in</strong> 1990 (Future Problem Solv<strong>in</strong>g, 2003). S<strong>in</strong>ce thattime, the programme has grown to <strong>in</strong>clude participants from approximately 110 schools (R. Boswell,personal communication, October 21, 2003). New Zeal<strong>and</strong> students have shown they can “foot it withthe best <strong>in</strong> the world” by w<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g numerous awards at <strong>in</strong>ternational competitions (Boswell, 2003a, nopage given). (For a recent review <strong>of</strong> this programme, readers should refer to Phillipson, Haerle, &Volk, 2003). Given the value Mäori place upon recognis<strong>in</strong>g group giftedness <strong>and</strong> the shar<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> theirtalents (Bevan-Brown, 1996), the Community Problem Solv<strong>in</strong>g Programme might have great potentialfor these students.Competitions are reported to be used worldwide for gifted <strong>and</strong> talented students. For example, <strong>in</strong>Australia, the Report to the Senate Select Committee described several state, national <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternationalcompetitions <strong>in</strong> which Australian students participate. <strong>The</strong> report commended competition providersfor their encouragement <strong>of</strong> young talent. <strong>The</strong> report also made an important po<strong>in</strong>t regard<strong>in</strong>g thepotential benefit <strong>of</strong> competitions: “…these competitions may help defuse any public antagonismtowards gifted children <strong>and</strong> legitimise the mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> appropriate provisions for them” (1998, no page113

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