Gifted and Talented

'Gifted and talented' is not an area of special educational need, but I have included it as part of whole-school inclusive approaches.

Françoys Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent

There has been much debate over the term 'gifted and talented' and what the components look like or can be measured. Some schools may use a different term, while others prefer not to identify these students as a group.

Regardless of this, it is clearly important to recognise students who have high natural ability in order to nurture and develop these into talents. A good place to start is with Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent. Watch the short video and take a look at the model.

Bloom's Taxonomy (revised)

Most teachers will have come across this as part of their initial training or ongoing professional development. It is well worth revisiting as a reminder of how to plan effectively. Do you apply the taxonomy when designing your learning objectives? The following is taken from the Teaching Innovation and Pedagogical Support site:

Bloom’s taxonomy is a powerful tool to help develop learning objectives because it explains the process of learning:

  • Before you can understand a concept, you must remember it.
  • To apply a concept you must first understand it.
  • In order to evaluate a process, you must have analyzed it.
  • To create an accurate conclusion, you must have completed a thorough evaluation.

Bloom's taxonomy can be very useful when planning for students identified as gifted and talented. In many lessons these students may already know and understand the lesson content before walking through the door, or will grasp the concepts very quickly.

  • Can you think of a student this applies to?
  • What do you do to extend the learning?
  • Does this extension material target the higher levels of the taxonomy?

Bloom's taxonomy posters - click to open in a new window

classroom strategies

There are some similar themes in these two videos, and these are also found if you search Google for gifted and talented teaching strategies. There are also warnings about placing emphasis on a child for their gifts and talents, as that could put pressure on them to perform. Another theme that comes though in the literature is 'brilliant but bored'. Giving these children more control over their learning, through choice, decision-making, and independent project work could relieve the boredom and encourage greater depth of study.