Revised gifted and talented handbook goes live

A revised gifted and talented handbook co-written by a Massey University researcher will help educators recognise and support gifted pupils.

Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting Their Needs in New Zealand Schools went live today on the Te Kete Ipurangi website, as part of International Week of the Gifted celebrations.

The revised edition was co-written by Massey University Associate Professor Tracy Riley and Professor Roger Molten from Waikato University. The pair wrote the first edition in 2000 with Associate Professor Don MacAlpine who has since retired from Massey.

“We had no idea how much this handbook would influence New Zealand practice at the time, nor how it would continue to shape policies and research for the next decade or more,” Dr Riley says.

"This revised handbook is so exciting, as it more firmly places gifted and talented education in our own cultural context, reflecting upon best practices driven by our own emerging research."

Dr Riley, a gifted education specialist, says the resource was designed to assist schools, and particularly specialist teachers and gifted education coordinators, to identify gifted and talented pupils and provide ways to develop their exceptional abilities.

Research by Massey staff and students features in the handbook with Associate Professor Jill Bevan-Brown’s interpretations of Maori concepts of giftedness, and a study by Ingrid Frengley-Vaipuna's (with Dr Riley), and co-supervised by Dr Lesieli MacIntyre, on Tongan perspectives of ability.

Curricular principles and models investigated by Angela Bell, a teacher at St Cuthbert's In Auckland and alumni of Massey's Masters of Education, are also highlighted.

"This revised edition of the handbook highlights the importance of research-led practice and practice-led research, as our staff and student contributions demonstrate," Dr Riley says, adding the handbook will influence Massey’s postgraduate programmes and research.

The Ministry of Education explains the revised handbook has been updated to include:

• An updated set of principles for gifted and talented education that are aligned to the New Zealand curriculum
• Greater guidance for defining gifted and talented from a New Zealand perspective, including Maori and Pasifika concepts based on New Zealand practice and research
• New Zealand-developed self-review tools for determining effectiveness and targeting areas for development
• Links to a range of New Zealand-based resources, including the TKI website and TKI mailing list
• A continuum of provisions for gifted and talented learners, including examples of New Zealand practice in schools

The handbook PDF can be downloaded from the TKI website: http://www.gifted.tki.org.nz/What-s-new/The-Gifted-and-Talented-Students-Meeting-Their-Needs-in-New-Zealand-Schools-handbook-has-been-updated