Despite its close geographical, economic, and political ties with mainland China, Hong Kong has not followed the same trajectory on gifted education but instead has preferred to adopt a more Western approach to the definitions and provision for gifted learners (Shi & Zixiu, 2000; Zou, Yang, & Greene, 2007). Hong Kong is, on most measures of international achievement, one of the highest performing educational jurisdictions in the world yet, paradoxically, it is a relatively recent convert to gifted education (GE). Not surprisingly, Hong Kong shares a common cultural tradition with China, especially in terms of the cultural capital derived from Confucianism, which encourages a strong work ethic and in which educational policy sits. This article traces the development of thinking in GE from 1990 and outlines the framework for delivery using the three-tier implementation model. It describes the current GE landscape in terms of its school-based and off-site approaches to GE provision within this model, and it briefly reviews the main strands of research on GE in recent years.
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