Editor
Learning about perspective through pictures of pork
The children arrive for the first day of term
The entrance to the Enrich Centre is adorned with tiles hand made by the foundation children
The converted pub becomes the centre for the gifted
Liz Hawes investigates what prominence talented and gifted children have in New Zealand schools, then journeys to Invercargill to check out the bright stars of the deep south. A quick scan of the literature would lead you to believe that the chances of your gifted child being identified in a New Zealand school and provided with an appropriately tailored programme are not great. Take the findings of Bricknell (2009), for example, who investigated the education of mathematically gifted students.
are very thin on the ground and programmes for children who struggle with learning take priority.’ Marlene is not a person to passively accept the status quo. She is passionate about the learning of this neglected group and was determined that at least in Invercargill, the talented would get a fairer deal. Her crusade began with her own southern colleagues. It was not difficult to convince them that more needed to be done both in professional development and in catering for these children, so her next stop was the Invercargill Licensing Trust (ILT). She knew The research findings show that there is no comprehensive the Trust to be supportive of education in the city. Her proposal understanding by schools and teachers about the was twofold. First was to get help for professional development characteristics of mathematically gifted students . . . and, second, was to establish a centre to run a specially tailored The inadequacies of identification are programme. reiterated by Newton (2009). Her research The ILT agreed to support both. Alan found that a lack of professional learning Dennis, Chair of the Trust and city council was at the core of the identification problem member, is himself a former school principal and this included pre-service training and sympathetic to the cause. He also knew where studying the talented and gifted that if Marlene Campbell was involved, the was optional, rather than embedded in the project would fly. training programme. Further, Newton notes A conference is now held every year that professional learning development and attracts the cream of international programmes conducted by external experts researchers in the field. ‘Last year we had and resources provided by the Ministry 400 teaching professionals from all over New of Education do not support a framework Zealand attend our conference,’ said Marlene or context to ensure ongoing professional proudly. ‘It is hugely helpful in building up learning for teachers, thereby limiting our capacity to identify and provide for our opportunities for talented and gifted children. talented and gifted kids,’ she said. Ignoring or not responding appropriately to Next was establishing the centre; the central any gifted child can of course have negative city Sugar Shack pub, which arguably had Marlene Campbell, a hands-on principal in her own school of consequences, as Mazza-Davies (2008) found seen better days, was identified as the perfect Salford through researching gifted readers: space. Once the beer-infused carpets had been lifted, the transformation began. . . . prolonged mismatching of instructional reading ‘Oh, we retained a few of the old pub’s features,’ said Alan programmes to the academic and emotional maturity of Dennis as he led me around the centre. ‘See those laptops the gifted reader may well result in underachievement, lined up over there. They’re sitting on the old pub’s leaners!’ he and a diminished opportunity to learn how to react to chuckled. I gazed at the kids perched high on their ‘bar stools’, challenge. strategising together on how to beat the computer at chess and The research is unrelentingly consistent in its message. In New imagined the space, strewn with beer jugs and rowdy freezing Zealand, we are not doing well at identifying our bright young workers strategising on the next week’s race meeting. Different stars, or responding to their needs. era, different game, I mused. One principal acutely aware of these shortcomings is Marlene I scanned the walls, overwhelmed by the selection of portrait Campbell of Salford School, Invercargill. art, tile prints and sculpted art work on display. I soon learn that ‘The special learning needs of talented and gifted children these pieces had recently been returned to the centre by the local are frequently overlooked,’ she says, ‘mostly because resources art gallery where they had been on public exhibition. ‘It was a
great experience for the children,’ remarked one of the teachers, ‘to prepare their work for a real art exhibition and learn all about the process of exhibiting in a public space.’ One hundred and fifty Invercargill kids are enrolled in the enrichment programme and each child gets one day a week at the centre. The fifth day is set aside for the professional development of local teachers. The day I visit is the first day of term and teachers Darren, Alana and Katie are welcoming the new children. ‘The centre can be a bit overwhelming for kids when they first come here,’ says Katie. ‘In their own schools, they may have been the only gifted child, whereas here, every child is gifted. They get challenged by their peers here and can find that a bit intimidating
The children gather for a lesson in ‘perspective’
to keep up because the discussion develops at a brisk pace. Next, the children split into smaller groups for in-depth debate. One group examined pictures that all had something to do with pork. They included a hunter carrying a boar out of the bush, a butcher, pigs housed in crates, a pet pig, a scientist examining samples of pig cells, a Muslim, a Jew and so on. The children discussed the pictures in depth, including what each made them feel and think about the subject matter. The teacher held up the pictures of the wild boar and the pigs in the crate and asked the children which of the two they would prefer to eat. Justifications included, ‘I’d rather eat the pigs in the crate because they look so sad, they should just be killed and eaten to put them out of their misery.’ ‘I would eat the boar,’ says another, ‘because the boar is already
A chess challenge is normal recreation at the centre
until they settle in,’ she smiled. It’s a full-on programme beginning with a naming game, ‘to help the kids get to know each other’s names quickly,’ says Darren, who is coordinating today’s programme. The class is divided equally into three groups. I bravely join in. Teacher Alana begins. ‘I am Alana and I like astronauts.’ The next child introduces Alana to the group and then introduces herself. I get the pattern. I quickly count how many names and objects I will have to remember before it is my turn. Geeesh! Twelve! All was going well until I heard, ‘I am Nathan and I like narwhales.’ My startled look clearly registered with Nathan who obligingly explained, ‘They are arctic whales with a long tusk.’ The naming game proved to be the easy task of the day. Two of the more demanding involved learning about ‘perspective’ and the technology challenge. Perspective is a concept the children had not before explored. They began the exercise as a whole group, listening to the teacher’s explanation, asking questions, offering examples, listening to each other’s responses and reflecting. It’s important
Artworks for the exhibition
dead and because of its diet, there would be more meat, less fat and be tastier.’ As an afterthought, he added, ‘I’d just open the crate door and let those miserable pigs out.’ The technology challenge focused on the kiwi bird. As with ‘perspective’, the session began with a whole class debating the ‘design faults’ of the kiwi which before the introduction of stoats, weasels, dogs and wild cats had no natural enemies. In smaller groups they then redesigned the kiwi to overcome the faults with each group producing a model of their ‘superior bird’. The prototypes were all different and included one model with four legs to provide more speed and balance for escaping enemies and a trunk-like beak for more efficiency in sucking up worms, shoots and insects. Another model had the bird capable of producing greasy feathers to prevent enemies getting a grip. At the conclusion of each of these sessions, the children were called together to reflect on their thinking about the task, summarise how they had resolved it and discuss what else they might have thought or done. It’s a sophisticated level of thinking, but these children are unfazed by the challenge. Enrich@ILT is an outstanding success for the Trust and one it is very proud to celebrate. The organisers and teachers know that there are more kids out there not yet identified and space is limited, but huge progress has been made with this uniquely Invercargill approach to giving young southern stars a fair go. References Bricknell, B A (2009). ‘Multiple Perspectives on the Education of Mathematically Gifted and Talented Students’. PhD thesis, Massey University, Palmerston North. Mazza-Davies, L L (2008). ‘Personalising Learning: Exploring the principles and processes of the IEP for young, gifted readers’. MSpEd thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton.
Rolf Harris and Walt Disney, also gifted artists, gaze down on the centre’s activities. The portrait was painted by a year 5 founding student at the centre
Newton, C A (2009). ‘Professional Learning, Knowledge and Practice and the Identification of Gifted Students in New Zealand Primary Schools’. MEdLM thesis, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland.
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