Gifted students should be taught by teachers with the appropriate training
I guess I should get the ball rolling.
One issue that I feel quite strongly about is the perspective that I have gained through my studies in to gifted education. What I have learnt has had such an impact on my teaching, that I have come to the conclusion that gifted students are simply not going to reach their potential by a teacher who thinks that teaching a SEAL class simply involves teaching the content faster or simply teaching the content assigned to a higher year level.
Gifted students often have very different learning requirements that should virtually be considered as "special needs". The research in this field is ongoing and teachers should be required to be in touch with this.
Certainly teachers who are specifically assigned to teach a gifted class such as a SEAL class need to understand how these kids learn.
ReplyDeleteTaking it back a step, I also think all teachers should learn at least the basics of identifying gifted children in their teacher training. At the very least they should have an appreciation that these kids are different in their learning abilities and approach.
It's still too common to find teachers who think that talking about gifted education is "elitist", or that somehow these kids have it easy and so can basically be ignored.
I agree that 'gifted' students should be considered as 'special needs' and that teachers in this field need special training in order to meet their learning requirments. Regular class teachers are often unaware of how to cater to these needs and high achieving students are often simply given 'extra' work rather than challenging work. This can also lead to resentment at having to do more work than other students, boredom or behavioural issues in class. Gifted support classes in regular schools often take place during lunch break - a punishment in itself!
ReplyDeleteHi! I am new to blogging and new to Box Hill High School. My daughter has just completed term 1 in year 7 and after 7 years of feeling she is never quite properly challenged at primary school (except for occasional outside G&T programme) it is nice to be able to relax and know she is now part of a well developed programme with well trained teachers that "get" giftedness! I know that outside the world of BHHS this is very rare. I concur that teachers at all public schools should have further training in this area. There are so many resources out there but somehow it seems too hard to develop an ILP for these kids and they are told to read when they finish their work (!) or are given extra work. There is also little continuity at primary school from year to year and you have to "tell the same story" year after year to the new teacher...extend, extend, extend!!! (and it still doesn't happen)
ReplyDeleteThe lack of continuity is definitely a big problem in the junior years. It does seem to depend a lot on the teacher and their initiative as to what/how much is provided.
ReplyDeleteYes the gifted do have special needs, it is very important that the teaching staff and schools have the training to handle the education of the students without the stigma of the student being labeled as different. Every child wants to ‘fit in’.
One of the big sells for us with BHHS SEAL program is it is not just one ‘special class'. BHHS has been able to provide an environment where being smart is normal, and the teachers are trained to understand the needs of their students.
Yes, that was also a big part of why we chose BHHS in preference to nearer SEAL programs - not only does it have a great reputation but it has a culture where being gifted (and having the quirks that can come with that) is normal.
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