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

Gifted and talented students should be offered a curriculum rich in depth and breadth, and at a pacecommensurate with their abilities. Enrichment and acceleration working in tandem with one another,and implemented across a continuum of provisions, is the preferred approach to meeting the individualneeds of gifted and talented students. However, this research demonstrates that whilst schools reporteda preference for a combination of enrichment and acceleration, the delivery of these is often limited.Schools are not always carefully planning and evaluating within-class provisions for gifted and talentedstudents, nor demonstrating recognition and understanding that gifted and talented education is morethan a pull-out or withdrawal programme.Schools should aim to meet the specific social and emotional needs of gifted and talented learners.There is an awareness and recognition of the social and emotional needs of gifted and talented students;however, only isolated examples of provisions specific to these are reported by New Zealand schools.The nature and extent of reported planned programmes for gifted and talented students in New Zealandschools could have a negative impact upon students’ social and emotional well-being. This iscontingent upon the recognition of the unique cultural, intellectual, physical, social, emotional, andcreative qualities and abilities of individual gifted and talented students in the planning andimplementation of schoolwide provisions.Provision for gifted and talented students should be supported by ongoing high-quality teachereducation. Schools in New Zealand are cognisant of the need for schoolwide professionaldevelopment. The lack of professional development in gifted and talented education is a barrier toplanned approaches to policies and provisions. Ongoing teacher education is a catalyst for thedevelopment and implementation of planned policies and programmes. Schools reported the need forongoing, school-based, high quality professional development for all teachers which focuses upon theinter-relationship between and amongst a school’s definition, identification, programmes, andevaluation.Looking Ahead: Ensuring Positive Outcomes for New Zealand’s Gifted and Talented StudentsGiven the findings of this research, there are important implications for educational practitioners inNew Zealand. The aim of the Ministry of Education (2002) in outlining core principles to underpin theeducation of gifted and talented students is to “provide a solid basis for supporting achievement andwell-being” (p. 3) for these learners. As these principles continue to be put into practice, a goal shouldbe to ensure positive outcomes for New Zealand’s gifted and talented students. One of the leaders ingifted and talented education, Joseph Renzulli (2001a) stated, “I believe that the best way to predict thefuture is to create it!” (p. 23).This research demonstrates, through the review of the literature, the paucity of national andinternational research which validates the recommended, and often implemented, strategies foridentification and provisions for gifted and talented students. The questionnaire results further indicatethat even when approaches have been validated, many of those with the strongest research evidence tosupport their effectiveness are not being implemented in New Zealand schools; conversely, methodswith limited or inconclusive research evidence to support them are being implemented. Theimplication for educators in New Zealand is to ensure that the practices being utilised to identify andmeet the needs of gifted and talented students are grounded in solid theory and research, as outlined inthe Ministry of Education’s (2002) policy.The Ministry of Education’s (2002) principles for the education of gifted and talented students havebeen confirmed throughout the review of the literature. The call for a differentiated educationalexperience which offers breadth, depth, and pace matched to individual cultural, social, emotional,intellectual, creative, and physical needs is reiterated throughout the literature. Identification methodsand provisions which are grounded in these principles would thus be appropriate for gifted and talentedstudents. However, the questionnaire and case study results demonstrate that there is sometimes amismatch between the espoused core principles and the reported practices, and this is especiallyilluminated in light of cultural differences. The validity, and ultimately the success, of chosenapproaches in gifted and talented education is reliant upon New Zealand educators to ensure that they278