Dos and Don'ts of Implementing School-based Gifted Education

Recognise both of students' potential and achievements through multiple means.

Label particular students as "gifted" and others "non-gifted" based on achievements.

Celebrate students' achievements based on the multiple intelligences approach.

Emphasise academic results as the sole indicator of success.

Identify and cater for students' diverse forms of giftedness through the consensus and commitment fostered among staff.

Identify gifted students with sole reference to acedmic achievements.

Establish a designated team to discuss and formulate a school-based gifted education policy addressing both the cognitive and affective needs of gifted students.

Adopt a laissez-faire approach to install short-term measures in response to the needs of gifted students.

Ensure full undertstanding of the school-based education policy among all staff through different communication channels.

Formulate the school-based gifted policy by the middle and senior management and inform all staff at general meetings only.

Define clearly the roles undertaken by different staff involved in the different school-based gifted education provision.

Involve staff in undertaking different parts of the school-based gifted education provision on a voluntary basis only.

Strategically arrange appropriate professional development for members of the designated team as well as other frontline teachers.

Encourage teachers to attend professional development programmes out of their interest.

Develop an open and fair mechanism to identify gifted students for nurturing holistic development.

Request individual teachers to spot and identify gifted students from their own observations.

Infuse the core elements of gifted education (i.e.creativity, higher-order thinking and personal-social competence) in regular classroom learning for all students (Level 1 provision).

Focus on KLA-based knowledge and leave the core elements of gifted education to programmes designated for gifted students.

Spot and identify students with good performance and potential through the Level 1 provision to inform the planning and provision of school-based pull-out gifted programmes (Level 2 provision).

Provide pull-out activities open to all students with consideration of teachers' expertise and resources only.

Identify and select students to Level 2 and Level 3 programmes through a well-defined multiple-criteria selection mechanism.

Identify and select students to Level 2 and Level 3 programmes based on a single criterion, e.g by students' academic achievements.

Cater for both the cognitive and affective development of gifted students .

Emphasise only the cognitive needs (acdemic domains) of gifted students at the expense of their affective development.

Evaluate all prgrammes/services to inform the school of the students progress and future development of provision.

Evaluate all programmes/services for appraisal and accountability purposes.

Develop a holistic plan of provision to cater for the learning and life planning of gifted students taking into account of their affective needs.

Provide only counselling and remedial affective education programmes to gifted students with maladjusted behaviour.

Inform all staff of an open, clear referral mechanism with reference to suggestions from EDB to identify and follow up with gifted students with special educaitonal needs.

Only student guidance personnel are consulted for proper follow-ups of gifted cases which potentially require special attention.

Examine the ambit of different school funds to plan for optimal use for school-based gifted education provision.

Allocate school funds to different department/functional sections upon requests from coordinators only.

Keep exploring resources that could be tapped from different stakeholders to enrich and support gifted education provision.

Rely on government funding for supporting gifted education provision.