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

We are very much in our conception phase at the moment and have been working with ourGATE Adviser … HUGE AREA – very challenging but definitely moving forward.Being a member of the gifted focus group with (adviser’s name) is an asset to our school.Everyone is on board and evidence can be seen in all classrooms.The concept needs a lot of attention. By sending one lead teacher to be trained by GATEand a whole school initiative for 2004 we have recognised the issue and are planning toaddress it … We feel very committed to the equity in GATE students, but professionaldevelopment needs to be whole school and well planned for worthwhile change to happen.Approximately 55 other respondents acknowledged the need to develop and implement writtenpolicies and procedures, but gave little indication of intentions of doing so in the near future. A fewrespondents commented that the completion of the questionnaire had begun to influence their views,and they acknowledged that there was “…a lot of work to do still.”Other schools, however, appear to be struggling with how and where to begin policy development andimplementation. Approximately 20 schools indicated the need for assistance in the development ofpolicies and procedures. For example, one respondent described three different approaches which havebeen implemented and seemingly abandoned, concluding with:There just doesn’t seem to be a right way!Another stated:We are still conflicted about how to proceed.Another respondent voiced similar frustration, but perhaps for different reasons:Have sent away and received Ministry handbook. Have yet to read and develop this area –on the to do list – as I am a new principal – probably won’t happen this year. Currentlyoverloaded!Time was just one of the potential barriers to policy and procedure development which was voiced byrespondents. Others mentioned funding and resources:We are developing, however, it’s a lonely place on your own. Staff are keen but it is all amatter of time and energy levels especially with NCEA, etc. Funding would help!Of the 30 respondents who mentioned funding, some expressed concerns over inequity:Schools need FTTE resourcing to enable such programmes to occur. If the Government isserious about these, then it will have to deliver extra teachers to do it. We struggle todeliver special needs within the pathetic funding levels we get as a decile 10 school Italready costs us 2/3 more than we are given to deliver. There is nothing left for gifted andtalented.Other similar comments included phrases like, “Funding is the issue!,” “Doing this on zero budget,”and “totally dependent on contributions.” Nine respondents indicated that policies were not relevant,but how they are put into practice was of key importance. There seemed to be reluctance by theserespondents to develop and implement, “Yet, another policy?!”Approximately 20 of the respondents gave more detail in their responses to questions regardingidentification and provisions, and another 21 clarified responses related to their policies. A smallminority used the space to make general comments regarding their views of giftedness and talent, andamongst those there is evidence that the myths surrounding giftedness do still exist: several indicated171