History of Gifted Education in New Zealand.
Gifted and talented children have interested and intrigued people since the beginning of time. History provides us with many examples of how different societies identified and nurtured the exceptional abilities of their young people. Of course, the specific abilities targeted for special treatment varied from society to society and from one era to another. Within a multi-cultural society such as ours, there is clear evidence of the different priorities individual groups ascribe to different abilities and qualities.
Over the past sixty or so years, numerous writers and researchers have focused on how, and how well, gifted and talented children are provided for within New Zealand schools and, more recently, in our early childhood centres. The reports and reviews furnished by these people tended to paint a fairly bleak picture of the plight of gifted and talented children in our education system. It has been widely acknowledged by those with expertise in this area that these children have been significantly 'under-served' in our schools. There appear to be three major explanations for this situation.
The first of these is associated with the concept of egalitarianism. Historically, egalitarianism focused on equality, rather than equity, of educational opportunity. The gifted and talented were often viewed as an advantaged group, and it was perceived that to offer them anything in the way of dedicated or 'special' provisions was simply adding advantage to advantage. Two decades ago, Reid and McAlpine observed that, 'The pervasive egalitarian myth and continued common misinterpretation of the doctrine of equality seem likely to remain a barrier to the full development of educational provisions for the gifted and talented'.
The second explanation is linked to the erroneous belief that gifted and talented children 'will make it on their own', and are not at risk of underachievement. Where there is a perceived competition for resources, those holding this view will consistently rank the needs of the gifted and talented as a low priority.
A third reason why the gifted and talented have been neglected, is simply that the nature and needs of this group are not understood. This results in teachers, schools and centres unwittingly failing to provide an educational environment commensurate with the needs of these children.
George Parkyn was probably one of the first New Zealanders to challenge these assumptions and advocate nationally for a better deal for the country's gifted and talented children. Others followed this lead and worked tirelessly to improve the lot of these children. In the four decades from 1950 to 1990, a small number of national and regional initiatives were introduced in an effort to improve the quality of provisions for those with exceptional abilities. While these efforts undoubtedly had a significant positive impact, they rarely represented a co-ordinated or integrated set of developments and, as a consequence, many were short-lived.
In the early 1990s, there was a marked upsurge of interest in the education of the gifted and talented. There are probably a number of reasons for this somewhat sudden shift in attitudes and attention, but one that has been identified in research is the impact of the implementation of the reforms associated with Tomorrow's Schools. In the first few years following the introduction of these changes in educational administration, many schools developed policies for their gifted and talented students and many new programmes were introduced. However, these developments were not universal and schools continued to vary markedly in the way they responded to the needs of their gifted and talented students. Those concerned about this inconsistency of provision increased their call for a national policy, where all schools would be required to demonstrate how they were providing for this group.
In 1998, the Ministry of Education established an Advisory Group on Gifted Education to work with the Ministry to identify areas of need and explore ways to address these. The first initiative resulting from this collaboration was the publication of the 'handbook' Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting their Needs in New Zealand Schools (Ministry of Education, 2000). This was distributed to all New Zealand state and integrated schools in 2000. Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting their Needs in New Zealand Schools is primarily a handbook for schools, rather than a specific guide to classroom practice. It is a 'guiding' document and encourages consultation leading to the development of approaches that reflect the nature, needs and values of individual schools and communities. The handbook was supported by a Ministry of Education-funded programme of professional development delivered to a small group of schools during 2000. In 2001, ongoing support has been provided by way of four full-time equivalent (FTE) Advisors in Gifted Education. These advisors are attached to School Support Service centres in Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. In 1999, Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI), the Ministry of Education's Online Learning Centre, added a gifted and talented community to the site, which has continued to be developed and expanded.
These developments were unprecedented in terms of official recognition and support for gifted and talented students in this country. However, there was still widespread concern that, without a long term vision and strategy, these initiatives might be as short lived as some of those that preceded them.
It was against this backdrop that the Working Party on Gifted Education was established in May 2001. The Working Party was charged with providing 'advice on a new policy and funding framework for gifted education (which) will contribute to durable solutions to the current issues facing the gifted education sector in early childhood and compulsory education, and to the development of a long-term plan for the proper organisation and effective resourcing of the sector'. The Working Party believes that its recommendations address these concerns and is very optimistic that, if accepted and implemented, they will translate into a much more supportive educational environment for the country's gifted and talented. The Working Party was very mindful of the issues that have constrained progress in the past and factors that have seen positive developments stall or disappear, and believes that the implementation of this set of recommendations will minimise the possibility of this happening again. The 'core principles' and 'recommendations' contained in this report are complementary to the publication Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting their Needs in New Zealand Schools. Ideally, it would have been desirable for the principles and recommendations that are adopted from this report to have formed the basis for the guidance offered to schools. However, the 'handbook' was frequently referred to in the formulation of these principles and recommendations, and there is a very high level of consistency between the two. This report recognises that Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting their Needs in New Zealand Schools will be the primary written resource schools draw on to guide their decision-making in this area for some years to come.
