Rising Tides - our Gifted and Talented Culture

Speech notes for an address to the National Gifted and Talented Conference, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

Introduction

E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha
Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

I am pleased to be here today for the opening of the first national Ministry of Education supported gifted and talented conference. My thanks to the chairperson of your organising committee, Louise Tapper, for inviting me to speak to you.

A warm welcome to the two keynote speakers to Dr Nicholas Colangelo and Dr Karen Rogers.

Transforming New Zealand

The theme of this conference is: ‘Rising Tides - Nurturing our Gifted and Talented Culture’.

This fits closely with the government’s goals for our country. We too are seeking a rising tide, one that will benefit all of New Zealand.

As a government we want to transform New Zealand over the next decade into a knowledge-based economy and society.

New Zealand has a unique identity due to its geographical position and cultural and ethnic mix. We want to turn this into a strong and confident national identity.

Education is at the heart of these goals.

A key factor in securing New Zealand’s economic, social and cultural success will be developing the potential of our most able and talented students.

Patrick Walsh, the principal of John Paul College in Rotorua said recently: “For New Zealand to be successful at a global level and economically, we need to put a premium on entrepreneurs, inventors, artists and researchers, because in the future their intellectual and creative capital will provide investment in those areas – these are the sorts of kids who will create jobs and add value to our exports.”

And of course, they are the sorts of children we are here to focus on today.

Supporting gifted education in New Zealand

One of the highlights of my job is visiting schools and talking with people up and down the country who make a real difference to student learning and achievement.

Opportunities for our most able students have significantly improved in the last five years, through a variety of initiatives for the gifted and talented.

The publication, Gifted and Talented Students: Meeting their Needs in New Zealand Schools, produced in 2000, remains the foundation document for providing guidance for schools as they improve their policies and programmes for gifted and talented learners.

In 2002 a working party on gifted education made recommendations to the government on the development of a gifted and talented policy. This resulted in a range of new initiatives aimed at meeting the needs of gifted and talented students in New Zealand schools.

Through this Budget the government committed to around $5 million over the next three years to support the gifted and talented curriculum and just over $4 million to support professional development in this area

Significant contributions

I want to talk about the practical application of some of these policies and how teachers around the country are making a difference for gifted and talented students.

But first I want to acknowledge the contributions of some of the people involved in developing these policies.

Firstly, Roger Moltzen, from Waikato University, who has a long involvement as a leader in gifted and talented education in New Zealand.

He chaired the working party on gifted education, was co-author of the handbook for schools and is a member of the gifted and talented sector advisory group.

Roger’s expertise in this area is renowned worldwide.

Tracy Riley was also a member of the working party and co-authored the handbook with Roger Moltzen and Don McAlpine.

Tracy, along with colleagues from Massey University, completed an extensive research project into the provision of gifted and talented education in New Zealand schools. She is also a member of the sector advisory group.

Roger, Tracy and others continue to provide a central platform, with a strong New Zealand perspective, for tertiary level training and research in gifted and talented education.

Rosemary Cathcart, a member of the initial working party, has also made a significant contribution over many years by providing options for teachers and parents of gifted and talented children.

The hallmark of the contributions of these people, and many others, has been the way in which they have made themselves accessible to share their expertise and knowledge with the New Zealand gifted and talented community.

Everyone in this room, I am sure, will know of such people and will understand and value the enormous contributions they make.

Innovative approaches

A wide variety of innovative approaches are being used by schools, community groups and private providers to support our gifted and talented students.

Let me mention a few examples.

At Palmerston North Girls High School a dozen gifted senior students attend weekly science lectures at Massey University, are mentored by post-graduate science students, and have full access to the university library. They have been on field trips to study subjects like the New Zealand falcon and crime scene investigation.

Heather Meikle, a coordinator of the school’s gifted and talented programme, says the experience has enhanced the students’ interest and confidence in science and has opened their eyes to new career options.

In Dunedin primary school children with musical talent have the opportunity to make and play music through an innovative programme offered by Queen’s High School and the Dunedin College of Education. There has been an enthusiastic response from students and parents.

The college’s head of music, Errol Moore, says he set up the project because research shows that musical programmes extend gifted children and encourage them to develop a sense of independence and self-direction.

In rural Wanganui a cluster of schools have created a programme of ‘enrichment days’, where gifted and talented children can come together and teachers can receive professional development.

Barbara Young, the project co-director, says that children who were feeling a bit isolated are now feeling chuffed about what they can achieve. They are being encouraged to be leaders, to use their abilities to help other children.

There are many other great projects in other schools. We know that gifted and talented learners are found in every classroom and across all cultures and socio-economic groups.

Maori and Pacific gifted and talented students
That's why it's good to see that the particular needs of our most able Maori and Pasifika students are being addressed as part of this conference.

During the next three days you will have the opportunity to hear from groups such as:
·Judi Rendall and her team, from Tairawhiti Rural Education Activities Programme, on the Turanga/Gisborne gifted and talented students project, and
·Leeana Herewini, Teraania Ormsby-Teki and their team from Waikato University on the development of gifted education in two kura kaupapa Maori.

Both these groups are examples of how government funding, through the Talent Development Initiative, is providing support for innovation, research and the building of teacher capability.

I am very pleased with the success of these and other Talent Development Initiatives in advancing our own local knowledge base in gifted and talented education.

They have also helped schools to find ways to meet the requirements of the 2005 National Administration Guideline change which recognises the learning needs of gifted and talented children.

School Support Services Advisors
Another effective policy initiative has been the School Support Services Advisors of gifted and talented education. I believe many of you have had the opportunity to use these services.

The advisors have contributed their knowledge and expertise to schools and clusters of schools throughout the country.

One excellent example of this is in the Coromandel, where the Coronet cluster of five secondary schools and three area schools works as a group with the Waikato School Support Advisors for mentoring and professional development assistance.

New book for parents
I am also pleased to tell you that the Ministry of Education will soon publish a new book for parents on meeting the needs of gifted and talented children.

The book is called Nurturing Gifted and Talented Children: A parent teacher partnership.

It provides advice from a Kiwi perspective and will assist our parents, schools and teachers to form positive partnerships to support gifted education.

Personalised learning

The advice in the book confirms my own wider priorities for our education system – ensuring that personalised learning is available to all students, and involving parents, whanau and the wider community in their children’s learning.

Personalised learning is about putting the student at the centre of education.

Despite some of the academic language and debate that surrounds it, personalisation is a relatively simple concept – and it's a concept that captures everything we're seeing to achieve with the new curriculum. Here's what former UK Education Secretary David Milliband says about personalised learning:

"High expectations of every child, given practical form by high quality teaching based on a sound knowledge and understanding of each child's needs. It is not individualised learning where pupils sit alone. Nor is it pupils left to their own devices – which too often reinforces low aspirations. It means shaping teaching around the way different youngsters learn; it means taking the care to nurture the unique talents of every pupil."

Personalised learning is not new in this country.

In fact, many teachers at the forefront of working with gifted and talented students have been setting the standard in personalised learning for a number of years.

One of the things they understand well is that personalised learning involves a partnership between the teacher and the student.

Rather than just being receivers of knowledge, students are involved in generating knowledge as part of the learning process.

Let me give you an example to illustrate:

Some of you may have seen the TV crime show CSI - Crime Scene Investigation. CSI has inspired a fascination for forensic science. More and more people, particularly school students, are eager to know how scientists really work out whodunit - and how.

This is something that Alfriston College in South Auckland understands. In fact it is the inspiration for their novel approach to teaching science and maths.

The school has developed a course which starts in Year 10 and runs through Year 11. It sets the students up as detectives investigating crime ‘scenes’ and uses a combination of science, maths and social studies achievement standards to assess their learning.

As a result more students are excited about learning, different paces of learning can be accommodated and students are able to be reflective about their learning.

This approach allows the teacher to enrich the programme for gifted and talented students in the class and ensure they are getting the learning stretch they need.

Through personalised learning, New Zealand's education system is becoming much more responsive to the diverse range of students in our schools today.

I know that the personal approach to education is close to your hearts and I am sure this approach will help our many gifted and talented students reach their full potential.

Conclusion

We are making good progress in education in New Zealand. We have created a world class education system. However, we must continue to strive to take it from good to great.

As part of this, we have to create the conditions that will support and challenge our most able students. We must keep expectations high and acknowledge their achievements.

By nurturing our gifted and talented young people we will keep them involved in learning. They can then make the most of their intellectual, social and economic potential.

I hope you will enjoy the opportunity this conference provides to share your understanding of our gifted and talented learners.

Thank you.