Transcript Inclusion and SEN Gifted and Talented Pupils

Guidelines for teachers
Gifted & Talented Pupils
Why did we do it?
The Northern Ireland
Curriculum aims to
empower young people to
achieve their potential and
to make informed and
responsible decisions
throughout their lives…
Where are we now?
CCEA produced
guidelines for
schools…
…in
collaboration
with our
colleagues in
NCCA.
CASS are working
with schools to
develop provision.
There is much
good practice
already in
schools.
How gifted and talented are you?
Q1. What species of tree is George Washington
supposed to have cut down?
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Cherry
Walnut
Birch
How gifted and talented are you?
Q2. How many varieties of insects are supported
by an oak tree?
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About 150
About 200
More than 350
How gifted and talented are you?
Q3. What type of tree is known as the ‘graveyard’
tree?
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Oak
Yew
Ash
How gifted and talented are you?
Q4. The Meikleour Beech Hedge near Blairgowrie
is the tallest hedge in the world. How high is it?
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10 metres
20 metres
30 metres
How gifted and talented are you?
Q5. The major oak in Sherwood Forest is
estimated to be 1,000 years old. What is its
current circumference?
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22ft 6in
25ft 11in
34ft 4in
How gifted and talented are you?
Q6. What was the name of the disease that struck
the United Kingdom tree population in the
1970s?
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Poplar Influenza
Dutch Elm Disease
Oakey Dokey
How gifted and talented are you?
Q7. What type of tree is used in the making of
Butcher's Blocks?
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Hornbeam
Field Maple
Juniper
Answers
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Q1. Cherry
Q2. more than 350
Q3. Yew
Q4. 30 metres
Q5. 34ft 4in
Q6. Dutch Elm Disease
Q7. Maple
 0-1
 We hope you are very
good looking!
 2-4
 Average public servant
intellect
 5-7
 Up there with David
Attenborough
Overview
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Definition
Identification
Whole-school strategies
Classroom strategies
Gender & giftedness
Profiles of the Gifted and Talented
Case Studies
Forms & policies
Definition
 Gifted and Talented describes those learners
who are achieving or who have the potential to
achieve a level substantially beyond the rest of
their peer group inside their…particular
educational setting.
 The Exceptionally Able are those learners who
demonstrate or have the potential to
demonstrate extremely high levels of ability,
compared with their peers across the entire
population.
Potential Areas of Ability
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General intellectual ability or talent;
Specific academic aptitude or talent;
Visual and performing arts and sports;
Leadership ability;
Creative and productive thinking;
Mechanical ingenuity; and
Special abilities in empathy, understanding and
negotiation.
How to spot them!
 One method of identification is
not enough.
 Research recommends using at
least two methods of identification
to ensure ‘spotting’ all the gifted
and talented pupils.
 Page 13 in guidelines gives a list
of suggested methods.
 Page 42 and 43 in guidelines
show a suggested process for a
school to ensure that its
identification procedures are
robust.
Identification process
 Advocacy - is it in the best interests of learners?
 Defensibility - is it based on best research and
recommendations?
 Equity - does it provide equal opportunity for every
learners, including those being educated off-site?
 Pluralism - does it use the broadest definition of
giftedness?
 Comprehensiveness - does it serve most Gifted and
Talented learners, not just the academically talented?
 Pragmatism - does it allow for modification and use
accessible resources?
Nebraska Starry Night
Whole school strategies
 Many different possible approaches
 ‘Wednesday afternoon club’ approach
This is a form of ‘setting’.
Withdrawing pupils makes them feel different.
Having a range of activities on at the same time.
Each learner can pick from two activities in one
afternoon.
 Opportunity for younger able learners to learn
alongside older learners.
 Opportunity for specialist to be brought in from
outside school.
 Activities must be well planned to ensure useful
learning takes place.
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Classroom strategies
 Schools are all doing this really well already.
 Varies depending on the gift.
 Example
 Maths
 Assume the learner is getting no additional help outside his/her regular
class
 Use investigative work to develop maths skills.
 Ask the learner to develop a maths trail for the rest of the class to use.
Set clear limits on how this should be done. Detail the type of
mathematical operations that should be done. Give the number of stops
there should be. Learner should supply answers as well as questions.
The trail should be tested before it is handed in. The learner should be
on hand as ‘resident expert’ while the rest of the class work their way
through.
 Invert a lesson. Once a certain topic has been covered, e.g. simple
algebraic formulae, set a ‘beat the textbook’ challenge. Can the learner
teach a fellow pupil how to do the work. The learner should write their
own set of ‘sums’ and help his/her ‘pupil’ to work through the topic.
Classroom strategies
 Use the talent to assist learning in other areas.
 Remember to develop the areas which are not
strengths, e.g. empathy, attention to detail.
 Use mixed ability groups and ensure the able
learner has a turn at each role.
 Assist the learner to see the value in other people’s
answers/opinions/contribution to team effort
 even George Best couldn’t win a football match on his own!
Gender & giftedness
Young girls
 Girls should be given leadership roles.
 Assertiveness needs to be encouraged and the
appropriate language taught.
 The curriculum should ensure that girls are routinely part
of traditional ‘male’ activities, e.g. problem-solving and
team sports.
 Praise the intellectual achievements of girls not just their
presentation skills.
 Provide more ‘waiting time’ for girls.
 Monitor school resources to ensure girls get an equal
share.
Gender & giftedness
Older boys
 Promote a learning culture among boys, e.g. offer ‘boy
friendly’ topics.
 Provide positive male role models. Bring in a local
footballer to talk about his favourite book.
 Encourage boys to undertake open-ended projects that
involve reading as part of the research.
 Avoid confrontation by offering choices that allow boys to
select learning without losing the respect of their peers.
 Offer male mentors. This can be older pupils or bring in
volunteers from the local community.
Profiles of the Gifted & Talented
 Joe often corrects the teacher
and infuriatingly is usually
right!
 Joe is very honest and tells
you what he thinks.
 Joe is very creative.
 Joe has dramatic mood
swings.
 Teachers find Joe intensely
irritating.
 Teachers see Joe as a
discipline problem.
 Fellow pupils find Joe very
entertaining.
 Tests by an educational
psychologist show Joe to be
extremely bright!
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Joe is one of ‘The Challengings’.
At School
 Joe needs a mentor.
 He needs a programme to help
develop his social skills.
 He needs to be given
permission to have feelings.
 He needs a behaviour
contract.
At Home
 Joe needs to be allowed to
pursue his interests.
 He needs good role models.
Case studies
 The case studies
 Exemplify the good practice that is already being
carried out in schools.
 Show a range of different types of schools.
 Show different approaches to dealing with gifted and
talented learners.
 Show one method to dealing with underachievement
among able learners.
 There are also a range of descriptions of able
learners from the Republic of Ireland.
Forms & policies
 A range of example paperwork is included.
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Policy
Audit form
Parental questionnaire
General checklist for identification
Classroom strategies checklist
School register
Individual record
Nebraska Starry Night identification form
 All the forms may be downloaded from
http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/inclusion_and_sen/gifted_and_talented.asp
Contact Details
 Helen Miskelly – [email protected]
 Treasa Farrell – [email protected]