MANY young bright sparks in regional areas are going unnoticed at school and may never reach their full potential, researchers say.
It is estimated one in 10 students in Australian classrooms are “gifted and talented” – that is, they learn more rapidly and in greater depth than their age peers – but according to the University of NSW’s (UNSW) Dr Jae Jung, a substantial portion of gifted children are not being identified.
And in cases where they were, their needs were not being met.
He said one of the main reasons gifted children went undetected could be because gifted education was not a compulsory training module for undergraduate education courses at most universities in NSW.
In fact, he noted UNSW was one of only two Australian universities to offer gifted education as a compulsory unit in its undergraduate education programs.
As such, the majority of teachers weren’t trained to recognise gifted students and weren’t aware of the importance of gifted education.
In both public and independent primary and secondary schools in NSW, gifted education was largely the responsibility of individual school communities.
Dr Jung said whether a school catered appropriately for gifted students depended on the views of the principal and the culture of the school.
“I think, in many ways, gifted students across the board are disadvantaged,” Dr Jung said.
“If a student is fortunate enough to have a principal or teacher trained in gifted education that student will be better off, but often they don’t have any training nor do they seek professional development in the area.
“In such cases, the students’ needs are neglected and the potential of the student won’t be fulfilled.”
Shirley Koch teaches the only gifted and talented education course at the University of Sydney.
She also believed more training at the undergraduate level was important to give gifted students the attention they deserved.
“The idea of having all teachers go through specialist training is an idea close to my heart but unfortunately students are only at university for a finite time and there is much competition in terms of what you can get them to do in that time,” Ms Koch said.
She said the best way forward was to work with teachers to ensure they delivered the curriculum in a way that suited everybody in the classroom, and teaching principals the value of being flexible when it came to individualised programming and distance education.
Last year the NSW government announced an $80 million package for rural and remote students, with a particular focus on gifted and talented students.
The NSW government’s Virtual Selective High School will begin classes next year, something Education Minister Adrian Piccoli is excited about.
“The virtual secondary school will give students outside metropolitan and large regional cities the same opportunities for extended learning and growth that their peers in metropolitan areas have enjoyed for decades,” Mr Piccoli said.
But Ms Koch said while distance education could go a long way in reducing the tyranny of distance, key challenges remained.
“It’s hard to be what you can’t see,” she said.
“There is a lack of role models and examples of what is possible for these kids, but it’s only because of the lack of people in regional areas, not the lack of intent – there’s a lot of good-will from schools and parents for them to succeed.”
Click here to view Milly Murphy's story.
Click here to view gifted Tamworth student Nathan Carter's story.