Teaching a middle years, multi-age, multi-school gifted program: Reflections from a teacher's perspective

Abstract

Gifted eduction is on the agenda in Australian education. While much has been written about catering for students with gifts and talents, little research exists about teachers establishing and providing quality gifted education programs for students with gifts and talents, particularly in the middle years. This article contributes to filling this void by researching a teacher's journey in creating a middle years, multi-age, multi-school gifted program based within a schooling alliance in Australia. Over the course of a year, as a teacher-researcher, the author kept a reflective diary to highlight issues that arose in the implementation of a middle years gifted program. Key themes emerged from the data, including providing a relevant learning approach, suitable student identification in the middle years, and beliefs about the future of the program. This article provides insights for teachers and schools, suggesting that it is possible to set up a middle years mulit-age, multi-school program that caters for the needs of students with gifts and talents.