After the controversial torching of renowned Mahidol Wittayanusorn School, known for the good academic results of its students, many people have raised questions about how a good school like this works.
Does it really have methodological problems? Who should take charge of those problems - school leaders, teachers, parents, students or the school system itself?
To get a supplementary understanding of what works in "gifted" education, I did a liter-ature survey and explored research in sev-eral countries from UK, USA and Australia. Following are some of the common under-standings, findings and, warnings:
Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) and Talented And Gifted (TAG) are broad terms for educational programmes for chil-dren identified as gifted or talented.
It is understood that 'gift-ed' and 'talented' describes children and young people with an ability to develop to a level significantly ahead of their year group, or with the potential to develop those abilities.
The main purpose of a GATE classroom is to support and improve challenges and opportunities in the classroom for the spe-cial gifts, abilities and talents of pupils.
What is different between gifted and tal-ented?
Gifted learners are those who have advanced abilities in one or more academic subjects, like Maths and English.
Talented learners are those who have practical skills in areas like sports, music, design or creative and performing arts.
Yet skills like leadership, decision-making and organisation are also taken into account while identifying gifted and talent-ed children and providing them with train-ing in those abilities.
Mahidol Wittayanusorn School is designed to develop an exceptional science school, initiating search and selection processes and implementing higher sec-ondary education for gifted individuals in mathematics, science and technology according to international standards.
Researchers suggested that we should pay attention to the emotional and psycho-logical aspect of GATE also. It is essential that each individual student be evaluated for physical, social, and emotional skills without traditional prejudices.
Some researchers warned that a person with significant academic talents often finds it difficult to fit in with schoolmates. These pressures often wane during adulthood, but they can leave a significant negative impact on emotional development.
It is essential to balance the day-to-day academic experience in the classroom and other activities such as sports or art activi-ties. We may enrich a broader range of tasks and resources, while focusing on spe-cial interests by increasing in-depth knowl-edge.
At GATE schools, the principal and teach-ers should provide equal opportunities for all pupils to succeed at the highest level possible, by removing barriers to access and participation.
So it is crucial for teachers to monitor students on their rates of progress and attain-ment at the higher levels, while they should also recog-nise underachievement in their students.
School assessment systems need to be rigorous and effective at all levels in order to identify individuals and groups of pupils who are at risk of underachievement and to track the impact of interventions.
In fact, a student's social and emotional development and cultural affirmation are major considerations when contemplating any type of acceleration. Therefore, both schools and parents require a common understanding about why and how acceler-ation occurs in the school.
According to guidelines for grade advancement of precocious children, Feldhusen, Proctor, and Black suggested the student should be socially and emotion-ally free of any serious adjustment prob-lems.
It is important that students should not feel unduly pressured by schools and par-ents. The student should be eager to move ahead. All stakeholders must be willing to help the student adjust to any situation.
These surveys should be seriously con-sidered for all schools.
PRIYAKORN PUSAWIRO: Learning Scientist
Computer Engineering Department, KMUTT