Have you ever noticed a student who is exceptionally verbally articulate for their age? Maybe they are always the first to finish? Maybe they are always the first to finish? Have you seen many students who refrain from showing their working out because they already have automated these skills in their heads? Research shows up to 40% of gifted students underachieve in our education system, often placing them at risk of never reaching their potential.
Here lies the challenge of teaching gifted and talented students. Alexandra Krause helped to illuminate the diversity of gifted and talented students and how to recognise and support them in the school environment during our INSIGHT Session.
What is the difference between gifted and talented students?
Gifted students refer to the top 10% of the population with a natural aptitude in one or more domains, including intellectual, socio-emotional, creative, and physical giftedness. Talented students refer to achieving high performance in the top 10% of the population. Gifted students are heterogenous, drawn from a diverse socio-cultural, linguistic, and geographical background. Gagne’s model promotes that students need to go through a systematic talent development process, to transform natural aptitude into eminence. Teachers play a critical role in planning deliberate and tailored differentiation of the curriculum to meet gifted students unique academic and affective needs.
Alexandra workshopped one aspect of differentiation for high potential and gifted students: adding depth and complexity to your lesson content. Here are some considerations:
Pretesting
Pretesting is the first step of meaningful, differentiated learning for gifted and talented students. Gathering data on students' prior knowledge help teachers to compact the curriculum and focus on content (not yet mastered) that will help them move forward in their learning, rather than repeating already mastered skills. It also helps teachers to ascertain how much guided practice is needed for that student or whether they are ready for more independent problem-solving activities.
Depth and Complexity
Focusing on Depth and complexity in questions is one way to get the most bang for your buck. Alexandra referred to Kaplan's work, which suggests that most standard learning tasks can be extended by embedding a thinking tool lens alongside the content in your questions, encouraging abstract thought. In addition, academic rigour can be further developed by combining Kaplan’s thinking tools with higher order verbs from Bloom's Inverted Taxonomy in your questions. It provides an opportunity for students to layer ideas and concepts from other disciplines to create a more detailed and critical analysis of theory and practice. Instead of just recalling facts, they may be required to evaluate and create something new from their already acquired knowledge. This approach allows you to create tiered assessment tasks or class activities with different entry levels that allow teachers to create an environment that celebrates and encouraged individual student growth.
As the well-known phrase goes, it takes a village to raise a child. In the same way, teachers have the responsibility to work together to recognise and create meaningful lessons that allow gifted and talented students to thrive.
What are St Philip's Teaching School INSIGHT Sessions?
INSIGHT sessions at the St Philip's Teaching School are bespoke offerings that supplement regular lectures. Often delivered by members of the St Philip's Christian Education staff and our affiliate school community; these sessions address important topics and issues that teachers face today. INSIGHT sessions create a safe space for St Philip's Teaching School trainees to collaborate both online and in person.
