This decade has seen an increasing awareness by
the Commonwealth Schools Commission, the ACT Schools
Authority, educators and members of the community of
students who are gifted in a diversity of areas.
A number of programs designed to meet the special
needs of gifted students have been developed in some
primary schools in the A.C.T. and it is timely that
the attitudes of principals, teachers and parents were
assessed.
To assess the attitudes of the three populations
(principals, teachers and parents) toward general
attitudes about gifted students, key aspects of planning
and organisation of gifted programs, classroom teachers
and their knowledge and need of assistance in gifted
education; and to explore whether the three populations
held different attitudes toward gifted students and the
provision of specific programs to meet their special
needs, the Field Study candidate developed and
administered a questionnaire to members of the A.C.T.
Association for Gifted and Talented Children, together
with principals, teachers and parents in nineprimary
schools in the A.C.T.
The results of the questionnaire indicated that
all three groups agreed with the proposition that every
child was entitled to an educational program that would
assist the child to develop to his / her fullest
potential. Appropriate extension programs should be run
for gifted students in the local primary school, with the
involvement of the resource teacher and the assistance
of personnel and locations outside of the local school
when it was appropriate.
Some reservations were expressed toward the level
of parent participation in the identification procedure,
program planning and program evaluation, and classroom
teachers were seen to require assistance in the areas
of identification, program planning and the evaluation
of programs designed to meet the special needs of
gifted students.
The Field Study concludes that local A.C.T.
primary schools could meet the special needs of gifted
students. This could be achieved by principals, teachers
and members of the School Board developing and
implementing special educational programs by utilising
Special Project funding, additional staff and
professional development opportunities which are
currently available in limited amounts through the
ACT Schools Authority and the Commonwealth Schools
Commission.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/219235 |
| Date | January 1986 |
| Creators | Mulraney, Rosemary Anne, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Rosemary Anne Mulraney |
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