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

Freeman (1998) conceives enrichment as the deliberate rounding out of the curriculum with ideas andknowledge that enable a student to be aware of the wider context of a subject area. Southern et al.(1993) elaborate that content is enhanced by way of depth, by building upon the curriculum, andnovelty, by adding content not normally addressed within the curriculum. They indicate that thecontent adjustments are primarily made based upon unique student interests and on the assumptionthat the curriculum “omits large amounts of content, materials, and skills that would be of value tolearn” (p. 391).Davis and Rimm (1998) acknowledge the broadening of content as an aim of enrichment, but alsodefine it to include modifications to teaching and learning strategies. Process skills such as criticalthinking, creative problem solving, small group or independent study, and so on are part of theenrichment philosophy, based upon the belief that gifted and talented students should be producers ofknowledge, as opposed to consumers of knowledge (Ministry of Education, 2000). As Southern et al.(1993) point out, the inclusion of process skills is designed to assist students in coping with the sheer‘explosion of knowledge,’ enabling them to master complex, interdisciplinary content.Enrichment is also provided as a means of being responsive to the social and emotional needs of giftedand talented students (Southern et al., 1993). In this sense, enrichment is conceptualised as a way ofdeveloping not only the cognitive abilities of gifted students, but also their unique affective qualities.Enrichment is conceived as student-centred and holistic, with the content and processes ofdifferentiated instruction determined by individual interests and stressing their social and emotionaldevelopment. Therefore, amongst the goals of enrichment is affective development, includingmotivation, self-direction, self-understanding, and ethical development (Davis & Rimm, 1998).The underlying assumptions and beliefs regarding enrichment set the stage for more concretedefinitions of the approach which distinguish between different types of enrichment. For example,Renzulli (1977) provides a model for enrichment, The Enrichment Triad Model, which distinguishesbetween three different types. Each of these is interrelated, as opposed to sequential, and reliant upon aresponsive, flexible environment for their success (as shown in Figure 2).Figure 2. The Enrichment Triad Model.Type I, or general exploratory activities, and Type II, or group training activities, may be viewed ascatalysts for the development of student skills and interests. Type III enrichment, or individual andsmall group investigations of real problems, is an outgrowth of the aforementioned, reliant uponhigher ability levels, creativity, and task commitment. Hence, educators have grown to recognise the41