Pūmanawa Gifted Education
Canterbury Explorers
These events are for ākonga pūmanawa (gifted learners) and their whānau.
Please feel free to share these events with anyone who might be interested.
Nau Mai, Welcome!
Ngā mihi nui kia koe, thank you for joining our Te Mana Raupō pūmanawa gifted ed journey. We are stoked to have you onboard! On this page you will find content for watching, listening, reading, and trying. These resources include bite-size intro videos, powerful keynotes, podcasts, and light to academic articles. Dive in and choose your challenge. Karawhiua!
If you prefer your information in print, there is a printable PDF of the handbook, Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting Their Needs in New Zealand Schools (2012). There are some particularly useful resources in the appendices, including a School-wide strengths and needs assessment and Recognising giftedness in Māori students: A reflective tool.
An example of one way a kura can share its provisional definition and identification process for pūmanawa giftedness with the wider community.
Start Here
The printable handbook, Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting Their Needs in New Zealand Schools is my go-to resource for guidance on the big picture of co-ordinating pūmanawa gifted education. Although it is over ten years old, most of the content is evergreen and it is much more manageable than the current TKI website!
For a much shorter read that is specific to a kura in our kāhui ako, we have Pūmanawa Gifted Education at Te Kura o Hato Māka St Mark's School.
We are looking forward to sharing similar resources from other kura as we continue on our pūmanawa gifted ed journey. 😀
The New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education is currently offering a free introductory course, Gifted 101, which is well worth checking out if you are just embarking on your pūmanawa gifted ed journey. The live Zoom sessions are already underway, but all of the course content can be accessed at your own pace whenever it suits you.
ECE
How do pūmanawa gifted characteristics align with Te Whāriki? Can we even spot pūmanawa giftedness in such young tamariki? (Spoiler alert: YES we can!)
We thank Sue Breen for supporting our kāhui and sharing these resources with us.
Small Poppies
"Small Poppies is an enrichment and extension programme and community for young, gifted learners aged 2-6 years old. We currently run regular classes during school term time in Christchurch and Auckland.
For our learners, we offer a safe and supportive place to connect, learn and grow. For our parents/guardians a chance to connect and engage in discussions about the complexities of parenting a child who may be very different from their same-age peers." - sue@smallpoppies.co.nz
Watch
Brainboxes is a documentary about ākonga pūmanawa, gifted learners, right here in Aotearoa New Zealand! Kick back on the couch with some popcorn and count it as PLD 😉 📺🍿
Bite-Size Intro Videos
AQD.webmWhat is pūmanawa giftedness?
The New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education defines pūmanawa giftedness as 'innate high abilities and particular personal qualities that may be seen across one or more domains, including intellectual, creative, social, cultural, visual-spatial, physical.'
Abilities and qualities across domains are a great starting point to develop your own understanding of pūmanawa giftedness.
Intensities.webmIntensities
Ākonga pūmanawa, gifted learners, are wired differently and experience faster, stronger, longer responses to stimuli. These experiences can be understood through the five intensities:
🧠 Intellectual Intensity
👁 Sensory Intensity
😡 Emotional Intensity
🦄 Imaginational Intensity
⚡ Motor Intensity
These intensities are also known as 'over-excitabilities' or 'OEs'.
Asynchronous Development.webmAsynchronous Development
Asynchronous development means being out of sync with age-peers or within yourself. Asynchronous development is a 'spiky profile' of advanced development in some areas and delayed development in others.
Cluster Profiles.webmCluster Profiles
Common clusters of traits can be used to create pūmanawa gifted profiles. These are not rigid categories and ākonga pūmanawa might identify with more than one, or none of these profiles. They can be a handy lens to broaden our perspectives as we look for pūmanawa giftedness.
Keynotes and Longer Talks
If you are interested in the issue of streaming and how eliminating streaming might impact our ākonga pūmanawa, I recommend this keynote presentation by Tracy Riley from the 2022 Gifted NEX Symposium. There is an excellent overview of evidence towards the end, which supports the use of flexible ability-based grouping with appropriate differentiation to meet the social, emotional, and learning needs of ākonga pūmanawa.
Listen
Declarative Language for ODD/PDA
One strategy I have found helpful is using declarative language. The Neurodiversity Podcast has an excellent introduction in Episode 155: Declarative Language - A New Strategy for Neurodivergent Communication.
Read
The Five Cs of Student Engagement, Delisle (2012).pdf4000+ gifted students participated in this research and shared their ideas about what they need/want from their teachers.
Is It a Cheetah?This light reading invites us to consider some potential barriers to identifying pūmanawa giftedness in our kura. A good conversation starter.
Revised Profiles of the Gifted and Talented (2010).pdfThis two-pager suggests some profiles of pūmanawa giftedness, including the 'at-risk' and 'underground' gifted. Helpful for broadening our scope to consider less obvious ways that pūmanawa giftedness can manifest.
Try
Activities
Byrdseed.com is my go-to resource for depth and complexity activity ideas.
Templates
These templates have been shared by kura in our kāhui 😀
This kaiako survey was created by a primary school in our kāhui to gather kaiako perspectives on pūmanawa giftedness. Surfacing existing beliefs is an important first step in your pūmanawa gifted ed journey.
💭 Wonder ProjectWhen you start looking for pūmanawa giftedness, it is helpful to record your wonderings and share your observations with fellow kaiako. This 💭 Wonder Project template is one way to do this with your team or whole staff.
Ākonga Pūmanawa ProfilesThese profile templates are a great way to gather rich data about our ākonga pūmanawa. There are student and family versions.
👋Contact Me
Still have questions? Ka rawe! As your Kaihautū Pūmanawa, AST Gifted Education, I would love to help! Please email me at: c.yonetani@saintmarks.school.nz. No question too big or controversial, no question too small or trivial. I am happy to schedule a visit to your kura or centre, or we can arrange a visit for you to observe our pūmanawa gifted education programme in action at Te Kura o Hato Māka, St Mark's School. I look forward to hearing from you 😁