Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In Australia, the identification of gifted individuals and the provision of an education which is appropriate to their abilities is a relatively recent phenomenon. The first national focus on the special needs of gifted students took place just over 20 years ago when educators and researchers gathered at the first Australian Conference in Melbourne in 1983 and the national body, the Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented (AAEGT), was formed two years later at the second national conference in Brisbane.

A reflection on Australia's progress in Gifted Education reveals that the years through the mid 1980's and 1990's witnessed the establishment of policies and programs for gifted students which were probably second to no other country in diversity and quality. There was a marked increase in specialized provision for gifted students, many teachers in schools participated in professional development in gifted education, and undergraduate and postgraduate training, including full degrees in gifted education, began to expand within the universities. Some of these Australian initiatives are highlighted in this edition of the Gifted Education International. However, as the 1990s came to an end, many programs began to close down. Indeed some Australian States which had showcased the most advanced and creative policies and programs, were the ones which reduced or abolished them. Alarm at the change of mood in Australia was voiced by one of the most respected leaders in gifted education, and a former President of the AAEGT, Professor Eddie Braggett, when he observed that, as the new millennium dawned:

it is clear that there is current national concern at the closing down of some of the excellent State and Territory initiated programs … it is obvious that gifted and talented education is facing increasing difficulties in a number of States and Territories .. In their desire to reduce costs and streamline services, State Departments and Ministries of Education often collapse sections and scale back specialised services … I have genuine fears for gifted and talented students in some States as staff of Gifted and Talented Divisions are returned to schools or reincorporated into general divisions

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Braggett

(2000). AAEGT: Message from the President. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 9, (1): June.

Braggett

(1997). Differentiated programs in primary/secondary schools. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Chubb

(2000). The Australian Science and Mathematics School. Flinders Journal, June.

Cooper

(2005). Gifted Indigenous programs: Unmasking potential in minority cultures in Australia. Gifted Education International, 19 (2).

Farrent

Grant

(2005). Some Australian findings about the socio-emotional development of gifted preschoolers. Gifted Education International, 19 (2).

Forster

(2005). Policy and practice: a twenty-year retrospective in gifted education in the Australian state of New South Wales. Gifted Education International, 19 (2).

Geake

(2000). Brain science: implications for education? Paper presented to the 8th National Conference for the Education of the Gifted and Talented, Brisbane, July 2 – 5, 2000.

Gruppetta

(2005). Investigating the role and experiences of gifted and talented coordinators in Australia: Blinded by the deficit view? Gifted Education International, 19 (2).

Gross

(2004). Promises fulfilled or promises broken? Exceptionally gifted children grow up. Paper presented to the 10th AAEGT Conference, Melbourne, August 15 – 18.

10.

Jewell

P.D.

(2005) Gifted education in a democracy: refuting the critics. Gifted Education International, 19 (2).

11.

Kronborg

(2002). Introduction to gifted education in Australia. In Vialle

Geake

(Eds). The gifted enigma. Melbourne: Hawker Brownlow Education.

12.

Lipman

(1994). Critical, creative and caring education. Paper presented to the 6th. International Conference on Thinking Skills, July, Boston.

13.

Lowery

(1998). How new science curriculums reflect brain research. Educational Leadership, (56) 3: 26–30.

14.

Munro

(2005). The learning characteristics of gifted literacy disabled students. Gifted Education International, 19 (2).

15.

O'Boyle

M.W.

(2000). Neuroscientific research findings and their potential application to gifted educational practice. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 9 (1).

16.

O'Boyle

M. W.

(2003). Current findings on the brain characteristics of the mathematically gifted adolescent. Paper presented to the 15th World Conference of the WCGTC. Adelaide, South Australia, August 1–5.

17.

Perton

V. MLA.

(2004). Labor v the kids: Gifted kids dumped by Kosky. Press release, June.

18.

Senate Employment Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education References Committee (2001). The education of gifted children. Parliament House, Canberra, October. eet.sen@aph.gov.au

19.

Stainback

(1996). Inclusion: a guide for educators. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks.

20.

Tierney

(2003). The Senate Enquiry into gifted education in Australia. Invited speech to Gifted 2003: a celebration downunder. The 15th Conference of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children. Adelaide, South Australia, August 1–5.

21.

Vasilevska

Cultural conceptions of giftedness: Australian research on Aboriginal perceptions. Gifted Education International, 19 (2).

22.

Vialle

Tischler

(2005). Teachers of the gifted: A comparison of students' perspectives in Australia, Austria and the United States. Gifted Education International, 19 (2).

Our Greatest Natural Resource: Gifted Education in Australia

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References