Supporting gifted and talented students

published:  June 2007

It is now generally recognised that gifted and talented students are as vulnerable a group in schools as pupils with special educational needs.

To reach their full potential, very able children need appropriate learning opportunities and focused teaching that builds on what they know and can do already and which presents them with new challenges. Schools in England are now required to indicate on a national register, which of their pupils are gifted and talented, and to make appropriate provision for them. To do this, schools need to understand how to identify and support highly able children, including the hidden gifted or underachievers - particularly children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those for whom English is not their first language.

The notion of 'gifted and talented’ is an intrinsically problematic one: 'ability’ is a culturally-constructed concept, and the development of learning capacity is a dynamic and highly plastic process that goes on into early adulthood. The quality of formal education they receive is a key factor in developing children’s intelligence as well as their capacities and capabilities. To help teachers and school leaders try to deal with these issues, this month we have summarised a review of research that was designed to provide a 'baseline analysis of research evidence, good practice and initiatives on effective teaching and learning strategies for gifted and talented education’.

The review explores issues related to identifying and meeting the needs of gifted and talented students. It describes and analyses what different approaches to gifted and talented education set out to do, rather than evaluate the effectiveness of the approaches, although it does identify the evidence that is most securely based. The studies explored by the review covered a range of strategies for teaching and learning of gifted and talented students including: mentoring, differentiation and grouping practices.

The review identifies approaches that worked, but also highlights key issues such as whether gifted students should be supported in mainstream or special classrooms.
We have selected a number of case studies that exemplify messages from the review, including using different ways to identify gifted and talented students, showing how a school used an inclusive approach for meeting the needs of gifted and talented pupils and exploring specific strategies for accelerating students’ learning.

Hewston, R., R.J. Campbell, D. Eyre, R.D. Muijis, J.G.A. Neelands and W. Robinson (2005). A baseline review of the literature on effective pedagogies for Gifted and Talented students.