EPR303 AT2: Giftedness presentation

Hello, everyone and welcome.

Thanks for taking the time after school today to attend this month.

Professional learning presentation on the gifted and talented learners.

Some of you may be aware.

A student of mine, Jesse, has recently been assessed by psychologists as gifted.

This is not necessarily news to us. Some teachers before myself have pondered this.

But now, with an official assessment,

it's more important than ever to ensure that I'm implementing actions into the

classroom to ensure that Jesse is able to reach her full potential.

Uh huh.

So I've done some more research.

Um, and I refresh myself on the best practises for inclusion for gifted students.

I'd also like to just take a moment to acknowledge some

of the other land is that I have in my class.

I do have some students with moderate to severe learning difficulties.

So whilst I'm going through today's presentation,

some of the information I'm presenting will also relate to those students.

However, I will largely be focusing on gifted education.

So, firstly, I just want to ask you, what does inclusion mean to you?

Just take a moment and just a few things down

and we will discuss shortly.

So just while you're doing that, I just like to share with my own thoughts.

So when I think about what inclusion and education should look like,

I think about the acceptance of all learners, regardless of physical, mental,

emotional and social limitations or strengths

as well as these,

all students have the right to be provided access to

the best education and opportunities to achieve their goals,

but also just like to mention some other definitions.

So the Department of Education and Training

say that inclusive education means that all students

are welcomed by their school in age

appropriate settings and are supported to learn,

contribute and participate in all aspects of school.

Inclusive education is about how schools are developed and designed,

including classrooms, programmes and activities,

so that all students learn and participate together.

Now,

Ofsted says that an educationally inclusive school is

one in which the teaching and learning achievements,

attitudes and wellbeing of every young person matter.

This show is not only there in their performance,

but also in their ethos and their willingness to offer new opportunities to pupils.

This does not mean treating all people the same way.

Rather, it involves taking account of people's varied life,

experiences and needs.

And Department of Education in Queensland

say that students experience inclusive education when

they can access and fully participate in

learning alongside their similar age peers,

supported by reasonable adjustments and teaching strategies

tailored to meet their individual needs.

Inclusion is embedded in all aspects of school life and is supported by a culture,

policies and everyday practises.

Between my own thoughts,

these definitions and perhaps what you've noted down yourself,

there are some common themes and keywords emerging.

So some of these might be access to education, participation in activities,

individual needs and tailoring and opportunity.

So you may be scratching ahead and asking why you should care.

Why can't we keep doing things the same way that we always have?

As you all know, as educators,

we spend a lot of time creating learning

plans and adjustments for students who need them,

differentiate learning task for them so that they can participate to their fullest

extent in the classroom and access the same education as their peers.

And this is no different for gifted students as well.

So when I was studying to become a teacher, I work in a shoe shop.

She's range in all different sizes.

Women's shoes, for example, range from size five to a size 12.

That sounds pretty inclusive, right? There's eight different shoe sizes there.

You would think you'd come in and find one that would fit.

However, when ladies came in to buy shoes, there were always problems with the fit,

even when they had the correct size.

Perhaps the shoes weren't wide enough or they might be. Two wide

shoes have laces,

and the elderly lady struggled to do these up or shoes

hurt the lumps and bumps on the side of the feet.

This is just an example of where one size does not fit all,

and the same goes for in the classroom.

Our learners are unique and have different learning profiles.

Whether that student has a learning difficulty or is classified as gifted,

it is important as educators for us to understand that we must

design learning experiences for the individual and not for the whole.

So we've identified our own beliefs about inclusion,

but what are our obligations as educators to our students?

The UN Convention of Rights of the Child,

Article 26 says that state parties agree that the education of the

child shall be directed to the development of the child's personality,

talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest.

The second point in the Salamanca statement

says that every child has fundamental right to

education must be given the opportunity to achieve

and maintain an acceptable level of learning.

Every child has unique characteristics, interest,

abilities and learning needs and education systems should be designed

to educational and educational programmes implemented to take into account

the wide diversity of these characteristics and needs.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 26 states that the declaration

says that everyone has the right to education and that education enables

students to create full development of the human personality

and the Department of Education. Gifted and talented students

says that schools are required to offer a range

of provision for gifted students,

assist in identification of gifted

students and use current curriculum frameworks

to provide differentiated learning experiences.

Acceleration options are also available for subject and you level

the Australian curriculum itself states

that gifted students require adjustments.

These adjustments may include but are not limited to fast paced,

greater breadth and more depth and gifted and talented students may

require different levels of adjustment over time to reach their potential.

And lastly, I'd just like to mention the first goal of the Melbourne Declaration,

which is that Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence

through planning,

promoting personalised learning that aims to fulfil

the diverse capabilities of each young Australian.

Now,

you may already be aware of some of these policies as we use them

to guide us throughout creating learning plans

for those who experience learning difficulties.

However,

have you thought about how these may be applied to our gifted students or Jesse?

What? Our Jessie's rights

again?

There are some common themes in the policies

which also relate to our earlier definitions.

The policies note that everyone has a right to access

and education personalised differentiated learning is a priority as well,

and education must account for uniqueness and individuality.

Specifically to Jesse Occur in particular allows her the freedom to access

the education that is best suited for her as a gifted student.

The policies are telling me that I need to offer a range of opportunities to cater for

Jesse and that I need to design programmes

that take into account her characteristics and needs.

So if anyone who has not spent much time with Jesse,

I would just like to spend a short moment

describing some of the behaviours I've seen this year.

So Jesse is highly creative.

She enjoys art and is a great writer with a wonderful imagination.

She is loud and abrasive at times and will challenge and question you.

Sometimes this can be viewed as rebellion.

However,

this is often an expression of frustration and hiding her self esteem issues.

She masks these by her decision to make poor

choices.

However,

she thrives when she's given the opportunity to take lead

in an imaginative class writing task or during our activities.

So the personality profile that I just mentioned will be described

by Bets and the heart of the creative Bets and Knee Heart

have created six profiles of giftedness and these profiles aimed to

classify certain characteristics of the different

types of gifted students Again,

however, giftedness is not a one size fits all.

There are many different forms for giftedness

in our letters,

and these profiles are labelled us as successful creative, the underground,

the at risk twice exceptional and the autonomous learner

now they are aware of who our gifted learners are.

I would like to spend a moment going

through two explanations of giftedness and talents.

So these models, firstly,

we'll start with Cagney's differentiated model of the gifted and talented,

which you can see on the screen here.

Uh,

so the differentiated model of gifted and talented explains the ability some

learners are born with and how they transform these into talents.

It's important to clarify the difference between gifts and talents.

So, according to Gardner, gives a natural abilities that some people are born with.

These people are within the top 10% of the population in one

or more of the described domains to the left of the diagram.

Talents, however, are the product of a purposeful developmental process,

and students identified of talented are within the top 10% of their domain.

On the right of this diagram

developmental processes,

they used to develop gifts of retirement to transform them into talents,

and the environment is a catalyst for development

and includes the impact of culture, families, mentors, pedagogy and curriculum.

These factors may positively or negatively impact the developmental processes.

This is where we come in as educators.

Our positive impact on curriculum implementation to foster the gifts of

students increase the chances of their gifts emerging as talents.

Poor pedagogy, however, will hinder this process.

This model is important to us as educators of gifted and talented students,

as it provides us with information on the factors that we need to be aware of

and how we can assist students in their

developmental processes to transform their gifts into talents.

As educators,

there are some catalysts that we can control

to enhance the performance of the learner.

By providing appropriate curriculum and enrichment and a solid pedagogy,

we are going to increase the chances

of transitioning learners natural abilities into talents.

Joseph Renzulli also provides an explanation

on giftedness and talent in learners.

He believes the gifted behaviours are the result of the interaction of three

clusters of traits known as the three Ring of Conception of giftedness model.

As you can see on the screen here, the traits include task, commitment,

creativity and above average ability.

Task commitment is important as it keeps the line of

focusing on track to what they are trying to achieve.

It involves perseverance,

hard work and endurance without this it would be important impossible for a learner

to put in the work to achieve higher outcomes.

Creativity refers to flexibility, fluency and originality.

These are all characteristics of gifted behaviours that

are not always found in the average student.

And lastly, Renzulli refers to above average ability.

This could be ability in academics or sporting. The scope is not limited,

which is opposite to God knows where they are limited.

Renzulli believes that this is a combination of three

factors interacting with one another that produce gifted behaviours.

Gonzalez, three are in conception.

Model discusses the factors that contribute to gifted behaviour.

This knowledge allows us as teachers to provide learning activities

for the students that aim to develop these factors.

Your friends,

always theory is correct that an activity for a motivated learner

that encourages creativity is in the domain of the learners.

Above average ability is likely to produce gifted behaviours.

Now that we understand how are gifted learners

are and have an understanding of their gifts,

it's time to discuss how we can support

inclusivity for our gifted learners in the classroom.

Sorry.

How am I going to plan for Jesse in my classroom and gifted students in the future.

Following ideas of pass out I am, I am able to consider my planning for Jesse

suggests asking these three questions when planning and if not any,

and if any of the answers are yes,

then the content is not suitable for a gifted student.

I would also be taking time to use universal design

for learning and using this in my planning for Jesse,

you can see here on the screen.

Suggestions are provided on areas in which you may need to plan

for each of these areas can vary from person to person.

For example,

looking at provide multiple means of action and expression

and subsection provide options for expression and communication.

It may be more suitable for me to ask Jesse to provide a creative artistic response

to a task rather than speaking in front of the class.

Differentiation is also an important practise for all of our students,

but especially to add gifted students.

And Jesse Ashman describes this is changing the

curriculum to suit the needs of the learner.

One way to do this is by following Parcells method mentioned earlier.

What differentiation means for Jesse is that my

role as the teacher to assess her needs and

make an informed decision on the content areas she

can be extended or in some cases accelerated.

When considering differentiation,

there may be a number of factors that can be taken into account, according to Ashman.

That is,

the level of the curriculum must be advanced enough to challenge the learner.

The zone of proximal development must be considered so that the task is

challenging enough, yet not boring.

If the curriculum level is not advanced enough,

subject or year level acceleration may be considered.

The pace of the content delivery must be adjusted to the needs of the learner.

For example, a gifted student may learn content faster,

and therefore delivery of the content to them should

be different than the rest of the class.

Gifted students may feel bored if content is not delivered fast enough.

The complexity of the content should be should match the abilities of the learner.

Therefore, they may be able to process multiple ideas at once rather than a linear

content delivery

as a teacher is my role to ensure that

Jesse has access to the most suitable curriculum?

Yeah,

yeah,

again,

I want to thank you for taking the time

today to listen to this presentation about gifted learners.

I would employ you to continue your own research because it

is something we will see in our lifetime in schools.

And we are our students. The best educational experiences.

Please check over my references on the additional document.

If we like to continue research further, I hope, as a whole school learning team,

we are able to put some of our practises into place

to assist Jesse and other learners in our school community.

Thank you again.

EPR303 AT2: Giftedness presentation

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