Meeting the Curriculum Needs of Gifted and Talented Pupils
Gifted and talented pupils have a range of needs,
some of which are curriculum orientated and some of which are 'personal
and social'. It is important to keep these distinct needs in mind when
devising appropriate provision for gifted and talented pupils, as any
programme which meets one set of needs at the expense of the other
will probably not be conducive to the pupil's overall holistic development.
It is neither appropriate nor desirable that programmes for the gifted
and talented should develop them in minor aspects at the expense of
ensuring their full human development.
There are three main types of curriculum provision
for gifted and talented pupils.
- Enrichment
- Extension
- Acceleration
Enrichment
Enrichment is used as a distinct teaching and learning strategy
when there is planned intervention on behalf of a pupil or pupils,
in order to broaden their knowledge and understanding beyond the usual
parameters of a subject or topic.
Enrichment will usually occur through the use of
additional resources and learning opportunities, it may consist of
classroom exercises or be a more opened ended project type piece of
work. Some schools use separate enrichment resources in order to enrich
each lesson for gifted and talented pupils, whilst other schools prefer
to allow gifted and talented pupils to pull slightly ahead in the curriculum
and then spend more extended pieces of time such as a lesson or two
working with the enrichment materials.
Extension
Extension is used for gifted and talented pupils when they are
encouraged to use higher order thinking skills, work practices and
response skills than might normally be expected from pupils of their
age.
Perhaps one of the most popular ways in which extension
is used in the classroom is through the use of thinking skills. Using
schemes such as Bloom's taxonomy gifted and talented pupils can be
encouraged to access materials and focus on teaching and learning
tasks which require higher order skills. Alternative approaches will
see gifted and talented pupils challenged through the use of greater
degrees of independent and self directed learning.
Acceleration
Acceleration is used as a distinct teaching and learning strategy
when a pupil is moved to work with older pupils, or when the work of
older pupils is taken and used in a class of younger pupils.
Although acceleration can work well with some pupils
it does not suit all pupils, particularly not those who are still developing
basic social skills. Generally it is helpful to work through strategies
of enrichment and extension before accelerating a pupil and where acceleration
is to be used it is important to liaise with other colleagues and schools
that the pupil might transfer to so that a seamless approach can be
ensured.
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