Educating the Gifted Learner

Wilma Vialle
University of Wollongong

Karen B Rogers
University of St Thomas
Minneapolis, U.S.A.

$49.50 inc GST
174 pages, 240x175mm, Softcover
ISBN 9781921333-194

June 2009

The Book
According to current definitions, gifted and talented learners represent about ten percent of the school population. In Australia, that translates into about 400,000 students in our schools who need a program that is differentiated from the standard curriculum. How do teachers recognise and plan programs for this diverse group of students? Educating the Gifted Learner is an introductory text to help teachers work effectively with gifted and talented learners. Aimed predominantly at pre-service teachers, it is written in a highly accessible manner and provides many practical suggestions, discussion points, and extension activities for the reader. The book emphasises evidence-based practices for supporting gifted learners that are defensible in the Australian educational context. It debunks myths about gifted children and provides a strong basis for teachers’ efforts to enrich and extend their highly able students.

                        

The Authors
Wilma Vialle
is an Associate Professor in Educational Psychology, specialising in gifted education, at the University of Wollongong. Her research interests focus on maximising intellectual potential and she is particularly interested in issues of social justice. Ongoing research projects include an international study of effective teachers of the gifted, a longitudinal study of adolescent academic and social-emotional outcomes, the development of expertise in competitive Scrabble players, and the development of spiritual understanding in children. Wilma has published extensively on gifted education topics and was presented the Eminent Australian award by the Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented in 2006 for her services to gifted education.

Karen B Rogers is Full Professor of Gifted Studies in the Department of Special Education and Gifted Education in the College of Applied Professional Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. From 2005 to the beginning of 2008 she served as Director of Research for the Gifted Education Research, Resource and Information Centre (GERRIC) at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. Her research interests while in Australia focused on effective teachers of high ability learners (from the students’ perspective), development of interdisciplinary arts and science curriculum, a retrospective study of Opportunity Class alumni, validation of strategies for developing self-direction in adolescent gifted girls, identification of the “invisible” gifted in Australian society within the Catholic school system, and why Australia has not been able to implement fully its policies on academic acceleration for gifted and talented learners. Karen has published extensively in all of the U. S., Australian, and international journals interested/specialising in gifted education and has served as President of the Council for Exceptional Children’s SIG on giftedness, Chair of the American Educational Research Association SIG on research on giftedness and talent, and as a Director of the National Association for Gifted Children Board of Directors. Her award-winning book, Re-forming Gifted Education, is currently being updated for publication in 2009.

                        

Contents
Chapter 1:
Gifted education in Australia: Background and policy

Chapter 2:
Who are the gifted and talented and what do they need?

Chapter 3:
Curriculum design for gifted learners

Chapter 4:
Making it happen in schools

Chapter 5:
How does this happen in the classroom?

Chapter 6:
Teaching models that help to differentiate lessons and units of work

Chapter 7:
The diversity of gifted learners

Chapter 8:
Handy resources for teachers in Australia