[kadoodle]

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/...1219-2bn68.html

I'm torn between shouting "well, der!" at the computer and crying. I always hoped that the education of gifted children was less of a desert than when I was a kid. Obviously not.

[lsolaBella]

Derr was my thought too.

[PrincessPeach]

They've only just now thought to study this???

Remind me however not to show my mum - she will loose the plot, she has been pushing for this for years.

[JustBeige]

...and they needed a parliamentary enquiry to find this out.

I think this is appropriate

[somila]

There have been parliamentary enquiries into giftedness in Qld before but I haven't seen big changes "on the ground". Differentiation within classes seems to be flavour-of-the-month ATM. Having said that our local state school is allocating spelling books according to tested levels rather than age/year level, so I guess that's a start.
Highly/exceptionally/profoundly gifted children are always going to need an individualised program and will have trouble finding like-minded peers in a mainstream school. I suspect most of the children in selective schools are not in these categories.

[leisamd]

Thanks for posting, very interesting!

Here's the report if anyone's interested:

http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/st...inal_Report.pdf

[BlondieUK]

I fully support the need for schools to do a better job with gifted students. However, the hyperbole that says they need the support as much as disabled children" I find that very hard to stomach. Their ability to learn is not compromised - they do have the ability to gain something, however small from the education system as it stands. Children whose ability to learn is even moderately impaired have extreme difficulty functioning in a mainstream school. The needs are entirely different, but extending a gifted child is much easier than accessing any kind of decent education for disabled children.

I'm sure others will disagree, but that's my experience as a parent of a disabled child, and as a teacher of both ends of the spectrum.

[TheMuriels]

Actually, gifted children quite often have their learning ability impaired... due to many factors.

[jojonbeanie]

I have one extremely gifted child and one extremely disabled child. Trust me there is no comparison. I know which side of the bell curve I would rather be.

[minus]

no longer want to comment


This post has been edited by minus: 21/12/2012, 12:42 AM