Gifted+and+Talented+Students

=Gifted and Talented Students=

Gifted and talented students have additional needs, as they need to be challenged more academically (Foreman, 2008, p. 7). As some students are bored and uninterested in the curriculum, teachers should try to make their classroom more inclusive academically to include the gifted and talented students. This is because the needs of all children should be catered for, regardless of their level of ability.

If students are bored and uninterested in the curriculum, they may not complete the tasks completely and/or disrupt the class. If this happens in the classroom, it may be because the work is too easy for them. So, through using the package from the NSW Department of Education and Communities, teachers can identify and cater for the gifted and talented students in their classrooms.

The NSW Department of Education and Communities has support packages available for teachers as a part of professional development in the education of gifted and talented students. The packages will be a starting point to identify and cater for the gifted and talented students.

1. [|Identification] provides background information and tools for identifying gifted and talented students. 2. [|Acceleration] is a management strategy that helps teachers to determine appropriate ways of increasing the natural pace of learning for gifted and talented students, as well as the different ways of implementing the adaptive curriculum. 3. [|Curriculum] [| differentiation] provides definitions, explanations and unit samples of differentiating the curriculum. It also provides a resource list to further develop the approach to the education of gifted and talented students.

Schools need to provide opportunities in the curriculum for children who are gifted and talented to develop their knowledge further. Using the support packages, teachers should: - become familiar with the characteristics of giftedness - use appropriate methods to identify students who are gifted - seek advice and resources to help with the curriculum in terms of learning experiences, content, learning process and tasks of differing levels - challenge students through activites that require depth of study, complex thinking and high level skills development.

While identifying gifted and talented students can be done at any year level, it will be more beneficial to do it during the earlier years of schooling.

By adapting the curriculum for these students, students will be challenged in their learning, as it will provide the optimal match between learner capacity and level of experience given by the school.

Foreman, Phil (Ed.). 2008. Inclusion in Action. Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia Pty Ltd.
 * Resources**

Department of Education and Communities. 2011. NSW Department of Education & Communities: NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation. Retrieved from []