Gifted and Talented

Rationale: The Advanced Curriculum
"The essential need continues to be that schools examine and improve what they do for their high-ability pupils through the teaching of the mainstream curriculum, as well as through additional activities.

The planning of teaching to;

increase the pace, breadth and depth of learning for high-ability pupils needs to be more deliberate in many schools.

Schools would benefit more generally from greater help on assessment and forms of teaching which support higher achievement at an earlier stage.

Exemplification of effective approaches within individual subjects is a clear need."
OFSTED 2001

Advanced level must be where students are supported in the metamorphoses from high ability into high achievers better known as Gifted and Talented. According to the DEFS Excellence in Cities initiative:

• Gifted and talented (secondary-aged) students are defined in actual rather than qualitative terms as consisting of 5 to 10% of overall school population-existing or potential high achievers.
• Gifted students are defined as those having abilities in core academic subjects, and talented students are defined as those having abilities in creative and expressive arts and PE, although it is acknowledged that some students will be both gifted and talented.

Tapping into the undiscovered Intelligences
To support this metamorphosis, that is to maximise the advanced curriculum we need to tap into our students undiscovered intelligences.

What is Giftedness?
Joseph Renzulli's three-ring conception of giftedness, conceptualises highly productive people as having three interlocking clusters of ability.

For Renzulli (1977; 1999), above average (not necessarily exceptional) ability is necessary but not sufficient for giftedness to emerge. Also necessary are the sister-qualities of task commitment (perseverance, endurance, application, practice, self-confidence, openness to constructive criticism, etc.) and creativity (fluency, flexibility and originality of thought, openness to experience, playfulness, etc.). The model has been refined and developed over time by Renzulli himself and also by those anxious to include not only the within-child but also the contextual determinants of giftedness e.g. The influence of family, the peer-group and school (Mönks 1992). At the heart of Renzulli's conception are school-wide enrichment activities, so that all students have the chance to discover their interests, gifts and talents. Renzulli's model provides us with a framework for the creation of both insightful and challenging educational opportunities for our students.

What undiscovered intelligences?
Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences contradicts the old views of the nature of intelligence. Gardner posited the existence of not one unitary notion of intelligence (theory underpinning the construction and use of IQ tests), but seven relatively discrete intelligences: Verbal-linguistic, logico-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily kinaesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. To these naturalistic intelligence has also been added.