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

community who may be able to support gifted and talented students in the school. The school hasestablished positive relationships with the local university. Students are allowed to enroll in stage onepapers in mathematics. A community writers’ group also accepts students from the school.Parents are viewed as key stakeholders in the process. Parents of students on the register are sent aninformation pack to which they contribute information about their child, such as outside schoolinvolvements and early indicators. Together a parent inventory and Parent Inventory for FindingPotential (PIP) survey indicate various types of giftedness. Parents are also involved in the monitoringand evaluation process. As part of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) process parents are expected tobe involved and to provide feedback.Pastoral care is also viewed as a major area. This involves working with the guidance counsellor,deans and the coordinator.The evaluation process is ongoing and involves students, teachers and parents. Self-review is the nextfocus in the development of evaluation procedures. Students are viewed as integral to the process andare brought together specifically to share experiences in a personal portfolio programme.Staff have perceived a shift in policy over the years - away from simply a focus on academicperformance to recognising that giftedness is a bigger issue, and that there are many other ways ofbeing gifted and talented. Today they share a greater concern about identifying students who are giftedin ways that are not necessarily obvious. There is a genuine effort to give more consideration to thosewho do not fit the more traditional concept of a “bright kid.”Initiatives such as endeavour awards (for juniors) and scholar awards support this changing culture.Students with scholar awards have the term “Scholar” either in gold or blue displayed on their blazerpocket depending on their level of achievement at regional, national or international level. As one staffmember said, “I would say the culture has changed. It is changing.” Thus the journey for this schoolhas reached the stage where:There is a growing rapport amongst staff, gifted students and their parents; an increasedopenness (the words gifted and talented are now freely used!); a willingness by parents andstudents to participate in provisions; and a more proactive, collaborative approach by staffto identify and provide for gifted and talented students.THE CASE STUDY THEMESSchool Organisation and PhilosophyDuring the interviews, coordinators were asked to describe the schoolwide organisational strategieswhich support gifted and talented education. During the focus group interviews, teachers were asked:What involvement have you, as teachers in this school, had in the establishment anddevelopment of your programme for gifted and talented students?Their responses to these questions, coupled with the questionnaire results and programmedocumentation, are described in this section.Schoolwide organisation. Eight of the ten schools involved in the case studies had specific gifted andtalented policies and one school was in the process of developing such a policy. For seven of theseschools, the policy was comprehensive and included a rationale, goals or purposes, a school-baseddefinition, identification practices, and programming options. Most of the policies included provisionsfor teacher professional development, funding, and monitoring and evaluation procedures. The oneschool without a gifted and talented policy explained that their policy on gifted education was part ofthe overall school policy that all teachers have input into. It was described as a collaborative way ofworking where everyone contributes ideas and is involved in decision-making across the wholeschool. Eight schools also had specific reference to gifted and talented learners written into other231