Felicity Donahue – Co-ordinator of Gifted & Talented (K-6)

First of all, I’d like to take the time to thank everyone at Emanuel School for the warm welcome I’ve received since commencing this year. My experiences so far have been so positive and supportive. I’m looking forward to getting to know more of our students and families throughout the year.

One question that has been raised during the beginning of the year, as we start to establish our groupings, is how a high ability or gifted student will be supported in their regular classroom environment. Many parents may feel worried that if their child is attending an extension class then they won’t receive the same kind of extension in their regular class.

When we look at how to best support high potential or gifted learners, students typically  require targeted learning opportunities based on their areas of strength as well as catering for their needs when underperformance is encountered (VanTassel-Baska & Baska, 2021).

In the case of how we cater for these targeted learning opportunities, all students should be exposed to a range of enriching learning activities, whether they have been identified as gifted or not.

Emanuel School is in an advantageous position as we have the resources available to provide targeted enrichment opportunities for students who may not be formally identified as gifted. We offer a range of enrichment activities for all students, rather than explicitly labelling a student as gifted and only providing enrichment opportunities to them (Renzulli, 2005). We aim to provide equity in access.

Within the classroom, our teachers differentiate their teaching to meet the learning needs of gifted students. Simply put, teachers will adjust the level of challenge and provide learning opportunities for students across a wide spectrum of ability. Our team develop a robust curriculum and ensure it is targeted to student needs as well as engaging students appropriate to their style of learning.

This is where the importance of teachers knowing their students comes into focus (Tomlinson, 2007). By setting high expectations and challenge to all students at an appropriate level, high ability and gifted students in this setting have the opportunity to develop their talents (Gagne, 2009).

References

• Gagne, F. (2009). Leading change in gifted education : the festschrift of Dr. Joyce Vantassel-Baska. Prufrock Press.
• Renzulli, J. (2005). Applying Gifted Education Pedagogy to Total Talent Development for All Students. Theory Into Practice, 44(2), 80-89.
• Tomlinson, C. A. (2017). How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.
• VanTassel-Baska, J., & Baska, A. (2021). Curriculum Planning & Instructional Design for Gifted Learners (3rd ed.). Routledge. (2019)