1. EDUC 5485 Development,
Teaching and Learning
Inclusive Education: Gifted Students

2. Warm Up
Mensa (2013)

3. What is gifted?
Note: From Education for Inclusion and Diversity (3rd ed.) p. 65, by A. Ashman and J.
Elkins, 2008, New South Wales: Pearson

4. What is gifted?
Note: From Educational Psychology (3rd ed.) p. 208, by A. Woolfolk and K.
Margetts, 2013, Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.
Category of
giftedness
Number of SDs
(SD=15) above
mean of 100
General ability
score (IQ)
Proportion of the
population in or
above this range
Moderately gifted 2 130-144 2%
(1 in 50)
(1 in 2 classes)
Highly gifted 3 145-159 0.1%
(1 in 1000)
(1 in a school)
Exceptionally
gifted
4 160-179 0.001%
(1 in 100,000)
(20 in Western
Australia)
Profoundly gifted 5 180+ 0.00001%
(1 in 10,000,000)
(2 in Australia)

5. What does gifted look like ?
(Winebrenner, 2001, p. 10-11):
• Has an advanced vocabulary and verbal ability for her/his age
• Has an outstanding memory. Possess lots of information and can
process it in sophisticated ways
• Operates on higher levels of thinking that her/his age peers. Is
comfortable with abstract and complex thinking tasks
• Sees patterns, relationships, and connections that others can’t
• Is very intense. May be extremely emotional and excitable. Gets
totally absorbed in activities and thoughts; may be reluctant to
move from one subject area to another; may insist on mastering
one thing before starting another
• Is sensitive to beauty and other people’s feelings, emotions and
expectations

6. What does gifted look like ?
(Winebrenner, 2001, p. 11):
• Gets frustrated with the pace of the class and what she/he
perceives as inactivity or lack of noticeable progress
• Monopolises class discussions
• Rebels against routine and predictability
• Becomes the “class clown”
• Asks embarrassing questions; demands good reasons for why
things are done in a certain way
• Becomes bossy with her/his peers and teachers
• Becomes impatient when she’s/he’s not called on to recite or
respond; blurts out answers without raising their hand

7. How do you confirm giftedness for one
of your students?
• Refer the student to the school psychologist for
testing
• Typical tests administered:
– Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – 4th Ed.
(WISC-IV)
– Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – 2nd Ed.
(WIAT-II)
– Test of Visual Perception Skills (non-motor)

8. How do you confirm giftedness for one
of your students?
• The following constructs are tested:
– Verbal Comprehension (tests of verbal reasoning
and acquired verbal knowledge)
– Perceptual reasoning (tests of nonverbal
reasoning, spatial processing and motor skills)
– Working memory
– Processing speed

9. Once you’ve found one, why should
you teach them differently?
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers:
• 1. Know students and how they learn
– 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning
needs of students across the full range of abilities
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of
strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the
specific learning needs of students across the full range
of abilities
(AITSL, 2013)

10. Once you’ve found one, why should
you teach them differently?
• “Providing for the gifted and talented pupils in
our schools is a question of equity. As with all
other pupils, they have a right to an education
that is suited to their particular needs and
abilities.” (Balchin, Hymer & Matthews, 2009)
• “Wasting the potential of a gifted mind is
reckless for a society in desperate need of
creativity and inventiveness”. (Steineger, 1997)

11. How should you teach them
differently?
Four examples of differentiating the curriculum
• Curriculum compacting. This provides
students with the opportunity to demonstrate
what they already know about a subject.
Teachers can then eliminate content that is
repetitive, replacing it with advanced learning
experiences (Vaughn, Bos & Schumm, 2000).

12. How should you teach them
differently?
• Enrichment. Giving students additional, more
sophisticated, and more thought-provoking
work, but keeping them with their same-age
peers in school (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013)

13. How should you teach them
differently?
Examples of “Author Extensions” enrichment
(Winebrenner, 2001, p. 102)
• Write something of your own in the same style as
the author
• Read other books of the same type by different
authors. Compare and contrast the styles of the
various authors
• Read interviews with the author. Write a short
biography of the author based on that
information.

14. How should you teach them
differently?
• Mentors. An interest in (e.g.) maths or writing
might be further supported by a mentor in the
community or at a local college. In this way
the child’s passions and advancement in
specific areas are supported by the teacher
outside the classroom. (Gilman, 2013)
- Need to check school policy

15. How should you teach them
differently?
Some objectives of mentorship programs (Torrance &
Sisk, 2001, p. 140) :
• To provide students opportunities to learn beyond
the limits of time, space and curriculum
• To provide students access to resources and facilities
not usually available in schools
• To provide students with professional role models
• To stimulate career awareness and career options

16. How should you teach them
differently?
• Acceleration. Moving the students quickly
though grades or through particular subjects
(Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013)

17. How you should not teach them…

18. How you should not teach them…

19. Resources
• www.gatcawa.org (The gifted and talented
children’s association of WA)
• www.nswagtc.org.au (NSW Association for
Gifted & Talented Children)
• www.hoagiesgifted.org (“all things gifted”
resource for parents, teachers and students)

20. References
• Ashman, A. & Elkins, J. (2008). Education for Inclusion and
Diversity. (3rd ed.). New South Wales: Pearson.
• DETWA. (2007). Department of Education and Training Western
Australia: Middle childhood: Mathematics/Number scope and
sequence. Retrieved from
http://det.wa.edu.au/redirect/?oid=com.arsdigita.cms.contenttype
s.FileStorageItem-id-10886532&stream_asset=true
• Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2013). Educational Psychology. (3rd
ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.
• Winebrenner, S. (2001). Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular
Classroom. Minneapolis, USA: Free Spirit Publishing.
• Mensa (2013). Mensa the high IQ society. Retrieved from
http://www.mensa.org.uk/cgi-
bin/item.cgi?id=2748&u=pg_dtl_art_news&m=pg_hdr_art

21. References
• Balchin, T., Hymer, B., & Matthews, D.J. (Eds). (2009). The Routledge
International Companion to Gifted Education. Abingdon, Oxon, UK:
Routledge Publishing.
• Steineger, M. (1997). Clarion call to action. Northwest Education (Fall
1997). Portland, OR, USA: Northwest Regional Education Laboratory
• Vaughn, S., Bos, C. S., & Schumm, J. S. (2000). Teaching exceptional,
diverse, and at-risk students in the general education classroom (2nd ed.).
Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
• Gilman, B. J. (2003). Empowering gifted minds. Denver, US: DeLeon
• Torrance, E. P, & Sisk, D. A. (2001). Gifted and Talented Children in the
Regular Classroom. Buffalo, US: Creative Education Foundation Press
• AITSL. (2013). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers Retrieved
from http://www.teacherstandards.aitsl.edu.au/Standards/AllStandards