Guidelines for teachers

1. Guidelines for teachers Gifted & Talented Pupils

2. Why did we do it? The Northern Ireland Curriculum aims to empower young people to achieve their potential and to make informed and responsible decisions throughout their lives…

3. Where are we now? CCEA produced guidelines for schools… CASS are working with schools to develop provision. There is much good practice already in schools. …in collaboration with our colleagues in NCCA.

4. How gifted and talented are you? Q1. What species of tree is George Washington supposed to have cut down? • Cherry • Walnut • Birch

5. How gifted and talented are you? Q2. How many varieties of insects are supported by an oak tree? • About 150 • About 200 • More than 350

6. How gifted and talented are you? Q3. What type of tree is known as the ‘graveyard’ tree? • Oak • Yew • Ash

7. How gifted and talented are you? Q4. The Meikleour Beech Hedge near Blairgowrie is the tallest hedge in the world. How high is it? • 10 metres • 20 metres • 30 metres

8. How gifted and talented are you? Q5. The major oak in Sherwood Forest is estimated to be 1,000 years old. What is its current circumference? • 22ft 6in • 25ft 11in • 34ft 4in

9. How gifted and talented are you? Q6. What was the name of the disease that struck the United Kingdom tree population in the 1970s? • Poplar Influenza • Dutch Elm Disease • Oakey Dokey

10. How gifted and talented are you? Q7. What type of tree is used in the making of Butcher's Blocks? • Hornbeam • Field Maple • Juniper

11. Q1. Cherry Q2. more than 350 Q3. Yew Q4. 30 metres Q5. 34ft 4in Q6. Dutch Elm Disease Q7. Maple 0-1 We hope you are very good looking! 2-4 Average public servant intellect 5-7 Up there with David Attenborough Answers

12. Overview • Definition • Identification • Whole-school strategies • Classroom strategies • Gender & giftedness • Profiles of the Gifted and Talented • Case Studies • Forms & policies

13. Definition • Gifted and Talented describes those learners who are achieving or who have the potential to achieve a level substantially beyond the rest of their peer group inside their…particulareducational setting. • The Exceptionally Able are those learners who demonstrate or have the potential to demonstrate extremely high levels of ability, compared with their peers across the entire population.

14. Potential Areas of Ability • General intellectual ability or talent; • Specific academic aptitude or talent; • Visual and performing arts and sports; • Leadership ability; • Creative and productive thinking; • Mechanical ingenuity; and • Special abilities in empathy, understanding and negotiation.

15. How to spot them! • One method of identification is not enough. • Research recommends using at least two methods of identification to ensure ‘spotting’ all the gifted and talented pupils. • Page 13 in guidelines gives a list of suggested methods. • Page 42 and 43 in guidelines show a suggested process for a school to ensure that its identification procedures are robust.

16. Identification process • Advocacy - is it in the best interests of learners? • Defensibility - is it based on best research and recommendations? • Equity - does it provide equal opportunity for every learners, including those being educated off-site? • Pluralism - does it use the broadest definition of giftedness? • Comprehensiveness - does it serve most Gifted and Talented learners, not just the academically talented? • Pragmatism - does it allow for modification and use accessible resources?

17. Nebraska Starry Night

18. Whole school strategies • Many different possible approaches • ‘Wednesday afternoon club’ approach • This is a form of ‘setting’. • Withdrawing pupils makes them feel different. • Having a range of activities on at the same time. • Each learner can pick from two activities in one afternoon. • Opportunity for younger able learners to learn alongside older learners. • Opportunity for specialist to be brought in from outside school. • Activities must be well planned to ensure useful learning takes place.

19. Classroom strategies • Schools are all doing this really well already. • Varies depending on the gift. • Example • Maths • Assume the learner is getting no additional help outside his/her regular class • Use investigative work to develop maths skills. • Ask the learner to develop a maths trail for the rest of the class to use. Set clear limits on how this should be done. Detail the type of mathematical operations that should be done. Give the number of stops there should be. Learner should supply answers as well as questions. The trail should be tested before it is handed in. The learner should be on hand as ‘resident expert’ while the rest of the class work their way through. • Invert a lesson. Once a certain topic has been covered, e.g. simple algebraic formulae, set a ‘beat the textbook’ challenge. Can the learner teach a fellow pupil how to do the work. The learner should write their own set of ‘sums’ and help his/her ‘pupil’ to work through the topic.

20. Classroom strategies • Use the talent to assist learning in other areas. • Remember to develop the areas which are not strengths, e.g. empathy, attention to detail. • Use mixed ability groups and ensure the able learner has a turn at each role. • Assist the learner to see the value in other people’s answers/opinions/contribution to team effort • even George Best couldn’t win a football match on his own!

21. Gender & giftedness Young girls • Girls should be given leadership roles. • Assertiveness needs to be encouraged and the appropriate language taught. • The curriculum should ensure that girls are routinely part of traditional ‘male’ activities, e.g. problem-solving and team sports. • Praise the intellectual achievements of girls not just their presentation skills. • Provide more ‘waiting time’ for girls. • Monitor school resources to ensure girls get an equal share.

22. Gender & giftedness Older boys • Promote a learning culture among boys, e.g. offer ‘boy friendly’ topics. • Provide positive male role models. Bring in a local footballer to talk about his favourite book. • Encourage boys to undertake open-ended projects that involve reading as part of the research. • Avoid confrontation by offering choices that allow boys to select learning without losing the respect of their peers. • Offer male mentors. This can be older pupils or bring in volunteers from the local community.

23. Joe is one of ‘The Challengings’. At School Joe needs a mentor. He needs a programme to help develop his social skills. He needs to be given permission to have feelings. He needs a behaviour contract. At Home Joe needs to be allowed to pursue his interests. He needs good role models. Joe often corrects the teacher and infuriatingly is usually right! Joe is very honest and tells you what he thinks. Joe is very creative. Joe has dramatic mood swings. Teachers find Joe intensely irritating. Teachers see Joe as a discipline problem. Fellow pupils find Joe very entertaining. Tests by an educational psychologist show Joe to be extremely bright! Profiles of the Gifted & Talented

24. Case studies • The case studies • Exemplify the good practice that is already being carried out in schools. • Show a range of different types of schools. • Show different approaches to dealing with gifted and talented learners. • Show one method to dealing with underachievement among able learners. • There are also a range of descriptions of able learners from the Republic of Ireland.

25. Forms & policies • A range of example paperwork is included. • Policy • Audit form • Parental questionnaire • General checklist for identification • Classroom strategies checklist • School register • Individual record • Nebraska Starry Night identification form • All the forms may be downloaded from http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/inclusion_and_sen/gifted_and_talented.asp

26. Contact Details • Helen Miskelly – hmiskelly@ccea.org.uk • Treasa Farrell – tfarrell@ccea.org.uk