Gifted Education

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Gifted and High Potential Students

Many teachers would agree that gifted students show advanced development (or the potential for advanced development) when compared to their peers. These students are often characterised by an advanced rate of learning, quality of thinking or capacity for remarkably high standards of achievement compared to students of the same age.

Gifted students therefore may be described as having high potential.

This section includes information about identifying and nominating a gifted student and includes the following topics:

  • A model of giftedness
    Gagné’s model of giftedness has been influential in Australian education and provides learning communities with a common terminology.
  • Nominating
    The nomination process requires the use of rating scales and checklists to ensure the nominee is judged on the characteristics and behaviours seen in gifted populations, topic include determining giftedness and IQ testing.
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Characteristics of gifted children

What characteristics or behaviours might be seen in children who possess the natural abilities which we have come to associate with giftedness?

Silverman (2003) summarising her work with gifted children suggests that if a child demonstrates more than three-quarters of the following traits, it is likely that he or she is gifted:

  • good problem solving/reasoning abilities
  • rapid learning ability
  • extensive vocabulary
  • excellent memory
  • long attention span
  • personal sensitivity
  • compassion for others
  • perfectionism
  • intensity
  • moral sensitivity
  • unusual curiosity
  • persevering when interested
  • high degree of energy
  • preference for older companions
  • wide range of interests
  • great sense of humour
  • early or avid reading ability
  • concerned with justice, fairness
  • at times, judgment seems mature for age
  • keen powers of observation
  • vivid imagination
  • high degree of creativity
  • tends to question authority
  • shows ability with numbers
  • good at visual puzzles.

Remember that these characteristics will typically be displayed within a cultural context and so the behaviours observed in one culture may look different in another.

The Victorian Essential Learning Standards (http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au) outline the major elements of the curriculum for Victorian students.

Gifted students may well be working at one or two levels higher than most students in their year. Some students will be gifted across a range of domains whereas others will have high ability in one or two domains.

To ensure that students reach their full potential, effective planning should:

  • consider student diversity while planning curriculum
  • acknowledge and use the rich learning community of the school where students learn from each other
  • identify and cater to the different needs of particular cohorts of students
  • ensure that multiple learning preferences and styles are offered.