The Journal of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children

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Abstract
Margaret Plunkett; and Leonie Kronborg
In Australia, most teachers enter the profession without having completed any dedicated studies pertaining to
gifted education, yet many go on to teach gifted students. There is a substantive body of research supporting
the value of professional learning in enhancing attitudes and practices that are conducive to appropriate
provisioning for gifted students. In 2008, Monash University began offering a new elective in gifted education
which by the end of 2010 had been completed by almost 500 pre-service teachers. This article reports on
research conducted with 332 of those participants, using Gagné and Nadeau’s (1985) Opinionnaire and a
reflective journal. Findings illustrate a strong positive growth in opinions relating to gifted education, particularly
in regard to social justice. Respondents’ reflections suggest that access to research and literature on giftedness
had been instrumental in assisting pre-service teachers to challenge their previous opinions, many of which they
now regarded as uninformed misconceptions.
Keywords: Teacher education; teacher attitudes; misconceptions; gifted education; acceleration;
ability grouping.
Introduction
In 2008, Monash University, which is
one of the leading Australian universities as well
as the largest, began offering a new elective
EDF4512 ‘Gifted Education’ through both oncampus
classes and Distance Education (DE).
By the end of 2010, almost 500 pre-service (and
upgrading) teachers had completed the unit
across 3 campuses (Gippsland, Clayton &
Peninsula) and from a range of Education
courses. The unit introduces theory and practice
to underpin what might be considered to be an
appropriate educational response to teaching
high ability or gifted students. The purpose of
the unit is therefore to provide a framework for
pre-service teachers to understand giftedness
and the practices associated with gifted
education from both a theoretical and a
practical perspective. The main topics covered
are: Attitudes toward & changing conception of
giftedness; Characteristics and identification of
giftedness; Underachieving gifted;
Organizational provisions for gifted; Grouping &
acceleration; Curricula provisions for gifted;
Differentiation; Special gifted groups; and
Social/emotional aspects of giftedness. The
assessment tasks provide the opportunity for
both critically reflective appraisal and practical
application of new understandings.
More specifically, the unit provides an
overview of current conceptualizations relating
to giftedness and gifted behavior and outlines a
range of pedagogical and curricula responses
which have been found to be effective in
meeting the specific educational and social
needs of highly able students. A focus of the
unit is the development of differentiated
curricula to engage all ability levels and gifted
students in particular. The learning outcomes
require students to be able to:
1. Examine their beliefs about giftedness and
gifted behavior and critique these in relation
to research findings;
2. Identify issues and practices associated
with identification of and provision for gifted
students;
3. Reflect on and evaluate the theory and
practice relating to pedagogical and
organizational strategies associated with the
field of gifted education;
4. Interpret and utilise models used in a range
of national and international settings to cater
for gifted student; and
5. Explore and develop differentiated
instructional strategies and curricula which
challenge a range of abilities and are
suitable for mainstream mixed-ability
classrooms.
Official student evaluations conducted
by the University each year indicate a very high
level of satisfaction by the pre-service teachers
Gifted and Talented International – 26(1), August, 2011; and 26(2), December, 2011. 31