A ‘one size fits all’ syllabus rarely delivers what provisions it claims. Most state and territory syllabus documents are designed to meet the learning needs of the majority of students in any classroom. Some documents suggest that the ‘special learning needs’ students, as well as gifted students, may necessitate curriculum modification; however, the reality of initiating such modifications in classrooms of 30 or more students is often overwhelming, more often than not resulting in the ‘teach to the middle’ approach.
When specifically looking at the needs of gifted learners, three important issues of curriculum arise:
- Gifted students need a challenging curriculum that addresses their needs for pace and complexity.
- Gifted students require instruction and scaffolding for their learning but may not require the level of repetition and support needed by other less able students.
- Gifted students who have not experienced a differentiated curriculum previously may challenge the process with the ‘it’s not fair that I have to do something that is different/ harder/ has higher expectations.
In my own context and because I am very new to this field, I have looked at The Maker Model that suggests that curriculum should be differentiated in the key areas of content, process, product and learning environment.
Curriculum content includes all that is presented to students: concepts, ideas, strategies, images, data and information. This content can be in the form of (1) concrete objects, shapes, pictures, diagrams (figural), (2) letters, numbers, symbols, representations (symbolic), (3) words and abstract ideas (semantic), or (4) perceptions, emotive behaviours, actions or intentions (behavioural). For this content to be more appropriate for gifted students it should be presented in a way that is more abstract, more complex, more varied, and organised differently using broad themes or concepts (Maker & Nielson, 1996).
Process modifications
Process is the way content is presented to students and the ways in which students use and manipulate this content. This modification includes the questions asked of the students and the mental and physical activities expected of them.
The skills of higher-order thinking, creative and divergent thinking, problem-solving, decision making, forecasting and planning are all recommended strategies not only for gifted students but for all students. For these modifications to be specifically appropriate for gifted learners, content modifications are also recommended.
Product modifications
The aim is to facilitate opportunities for gifted students to produce a product that reflects their potential. Often students create products which approximate to some extent those developed by professionals, in the following ways:
- The proposed product addresses a real problem or concern.
- The product has a real rather than a contrived purpose.
- The intent of the producer is to please, inform, convince, impress, or otherwise have an effect on a real audience.
- The product is a transformation or synthesis, rather than a recapitulation or summary, of existing information.
- The product is evaluated by someone other than the teacher, using criteria appropriate to the field.
- The format has been selected by the producer as appropriate to the proposed audience and to the talents of its creator (Maker & Nielson, 1996, p. 136).
My main focus recently has been on learning environment modifications by facilitating a more student-centred approach, varied groupings, flexible learning spaces and when possible having students move out of the classroom and utilise the facilities at hand in my school. I am now starting to explore usingpre-assessment to compact the curriculum for students who have already mastered the core and designing independent research tasks where students learn how to develop and manage their independent learning skills. The degree of complexity of the project will depend on student readiness and independent research may begin as a paired project.
Other models for exploration educators can explore include Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent which was a catalyst for me to start my journey into GATE, where I wrote a blog post titled The Forgotten Gifted.
References
Maker, J. C. & Nielson, A. B. (1996). Curriculum development and teaching strategies for gifted learners. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
Gagné, F. (2003). Transforming gifts into talents: The DMGT as a developmental theory. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.) Handbook of gifted education (3rd edition). (pp. 60-73). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.