​​​​Many reports and scientific studies indicate that the majority of gifted students spend their time in regular classes, and since their needs differ from those available in regular classes, they need teachers who are aware of these special needs and are able to meet them. Therefore, it was important for educational systems to provide teachers with comprehensive development programs that meet the nature and needs of gifted students and design curricula to meet these needs. Therefore, professional development may include various options such as university study, professional conferences, workshops, and distance learning. Professional development topics also include a range of topics, including:

• • Characteristics of gifted students
• • The nature and needs of gifted students.
• • Curriculum differentiation.
• • Effective acceleration strategies.
• • Evidence-based teaching strategies.
• • Social and emotional needs of gifted students.

Looking at international experiences in professional development for teachers in the field of talent, we find that there is no agreed-upon and comprehensive model for these programs. They have varied between academic certificates, short courses, self-learning, attending scientific and professional conferences and meetings, and others. Some countries have also adopted specific standards for professional development programs in the field of talent, as exists in the United States of America. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive professional development program aimed at improving teachers’ knowledge and attitudes towards gifted education, and appropriate educational strategies for these students.

Hong Kong’s experience may be the most comprehensive, focusing on a combination of elements (scientific knowledge, attitudes, applied practice, collaboration, and goal effectiveness) in gifted education. In 2016, the Giftedness to Flourishing Talents (GIFT) project was launched to promote gifted education in schools in Hong Kong. It was funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charitable Trust. The project was designed to help local schools: (a) develop their gifted education policy; (b) enhance the strengths and abilities, whole-person development, and well-being of “gifted” and “normal” students; (c) develop the professional competence of school staff in gifted education; and (d) enhance the capacity of parents to raise gifted children.

The GIFT project was built on several conceptual pillars, which are:

First, instead of relying on IQ as the sole criterion for defining giftedness and identifying gifted students, the project adopted a multidimensional concept of giftedness based on Gardner’s (2011) theory of multiple intelligences. Thus, in addition to intelligence (IQ), emphasis was placed on other types of intelligence, including linguistic intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, and interpersonal intelligence.

Second, the project adopted Ruinzoli’s (1978) three-ring concept of giftedness, which considers above-average ability, high level of task commitment, and creativity as three essential elements of giftedness. These three-ring elements were included in the Objectives with School Enrichment Programs, which, as one of the widely adopted program models for gifted education worldwide (Reis & Peters, 2021), serves as a guideline for fostering creativity and enhancing student engagement through curriculum integration, enrichment, differentiation, and acceleration in this project.

Third, to discover the different potentials and abilities of students, the project also developed a talent search database for students in each school based on the Talent Search Model (TSM) (Stanley & Benbow, 1986). In theory, TSM is a model for talent development in general with a focus on acceleration options for high-ability gifted students (Chan, 2015).

Fourth, the GIFT project cooperated with the 18 schools in which the project will be implemented, to formulate a school talent development and gifted education policy in line with their main areas of interest in their school development plans, where a school culture conducive to gifted education and appropriate school policies and practices were developed to facilitate the implementation of the goals and gifted education in the school (Education Bureau, 2014).

Fifth, the school environment approach was adopted, including its components, including stakeholders (Bronfenbrenner, 1994), and the focus on the importance of the interaction between children and their environments and its impact on their growth and development. The GIFT project also provides services to various stakeholders in the school, including school staff, teachers, parents, and students.

Based on the above conceptual foundations, the GIFT project developed a model for gifted education. This model consists of four levels: school, teacher, student, and parent with six components of gifted education services and provisions, including curriculum development, student development, school development, teacher professional development, financial support, and parent empowerment. 

As for the curriculum, it was developed and implemented at two levels (programs and objectives). The objectives program is a whole-class educational program in the school where higher-order thinking skills, creativity, and personal and social skills are integrated into the rich and expanded curricula of the regular classroom for all students. Subjects in the elementary stages include Chinese language education, English language education, and mathematics and science education. In secondary schools, the emphasis is on mathematics and science education. According to Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy of educational objectives, learning objectives can be classified into six levels including knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Among these six levels, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation were closely related to higher-order thinking skills. Therefore, rich curricula were created by incorporating tasks that encouraged students to distinguish between facts, integrate different elements into a sound structure, and make judgments about the significance of concepts.

The enrichment programs of this project consist of various educational activities to encourage students to express their own ideas, such as divergent thinking and sensitivity to problems. Personal and social skills are defined as an individual’s attitude towards oneself (self-perception) and others (relationship with siblings, peers, parents, and adults), and one’s beliefs, values, and concerns about society. To enhance students’ personal and social competencies, the project included enriching the curriculum by including more cooperative learning activities. Through the lessons, teachers encourage students to respect and appreciate the opinions of others, cooperate amicably with others or provide assistance to them, and share achievements with their peers.

After developing the curriculum, enrichment curricula were implemented through the use of enrichment activities of the Triad of Enrichment in the School-Wide Enrichment Model (Ronzulli, 2003), and differentiation strategies such as flexible grouping and curriculum integration. Referring to the Triad Model, there are three types of enrichment experiences for students. The first type of enrichment is designed to expose students to a variety of disciplines and to stimulate them to explore new interests. The second type of enrichment includes materials and methods designed to promote the development of thinking and feeling processes, and is usually provided to groups of students in their classrooms or outside of class. The third type of enrichment involves students who have become interested in pursuing a self-selected field and are willing to commit the time necessary to acquire advanced content and hands-on training in which they assume the role of explorer. Products can be completed individually or by small groups of students, and are always based on student interests. The project involves the use of general exploratory learning activities (i.e., the first type of enrichment) to introduce students to the topic and stimulate their interest in learning. Group activities (Type II enrichment) are also provided to students to train them in creative thinking, problem solving and critical thinking, to learn how-to-learn skills, for example, skills in using advanced-level reference materials, and communication skills. Small-scale exploration and investigation of real-world problems (Type III enrichment) is used in some appropriate cases.

The Goals Program is a pull program, i.e. grouping outside the classroom, where differentiated curricula are designed for students with high abilities in different areas. Students with high potential and ability are identified based on the school’s talent search databases, test scores, performance and awards in competitions, as well as teacher and parent nominations and self-nomination. Students are selected to participate in pull programs that provide accelerated learning contents for students apart from integrating higher-order thinking skills, creativity, personal and social competence into the curriculum. The learning content may be cross-cutting subject matter with group or independent investigative tasks. As with the Goals Program, the curriculum is implemented using the enrichment activities of the Triad Model in the Level II program to facilitate the development of personal and social skills of gifted students, and emotional skills and collaborative learning are integrated into the curriculum. Students are given opportunities to receive, respond to, evaluate, organize and internalize values ​​in order to develop their emotional skills. Level II programs also aim to enhance the leadership, communication and collaboration skills of high-potential students. For example, the “Take a Picture and Write” program was implemented to enhance students’ ICT and collaboration skills. The Young Scientists programme is also used to enhance students' discovery and investigation skills. Other Level 2 programmes include Pythagorean Theorem Extension, Mock Experiment, Creative Reading and Writing and Micro:bit Programming.

In order to develop curricula, the GIFT project conducted school visits and helped schools review and improve their gifted education policies. The project helped schools develop school talent search databases, which enable teachers to better understand their students’ potential, interests, and learning abilities. In the database, a talent profile was also created with assessments of each student’s academic ability, creativity, nonverbal reasoning, multiple intelligences, gifted characteristics, self-awareness, psychological health, and life satisfaction. Based on this, teachers can meet the diverse needs and characteristics of students and design rich enrichment curricula, diverse pull-out programs, and teaching strategies (school development).

In addition, in order to enhance teachers’ knowledge of gifted education strategies, GIFT organized various academic lectures and seminars on gifted education, curriculum development, talent nurturing, gifted emotional development, differentiation, and teachers’ action research skills. The project also facilitated local and overseas professional exchanges by organizing professional sharing sessions, overseas study trips, and presentations at foreign conferences (professional development).

To provide more resources, time and space for schools to develop and promote gifted education in school, subsidies were provided to schools. Some schools were given HK$1,270 to purchase equipment and resources for gifted education in school, while some schools were given HK$42,000 to hire one additional teacher to reduce the workload of gifted education staff in school and free up members to organize and attend professional development activities.

In addition to the support provided to schools and teachers, the GIFT project emphasized the importance of empowering parents and cooperation between home and school to enhance the capabilities of gifted students. The project organized seminars on the cognitive and emotional needs of gifted children, the role of parents in caring for the gifted, and cooperation between home and school in educating the gifted (empowering parents).

The previous project model shows the importance of building a comprehensive educational system in gifted education that contains the following basic elements (objectives, conceptual framework, programs, application, and finally evaluation) which helps educators discover gifted students and meet their needs.

References

Bronfenbrenner, U. Ecological models of human development. In Readings on the Development of Children, 2nd ed.; Gauvain, M., Cole, M., Eds.; Freeman: New York, NY, USA, 1994; pp. 37–43.

Chan, DW Education for the gifted and talented. In International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences, 2nd ed.; Wright, J.D., Ed.; Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2015; Volume 7, pp. 158–164.

Education Bureau. Operational Guide on the Whole School Approach to Integrated Education. 2014. Available online:  https://sense.edb.gov.hk/uploads/page/integrated-education/guidelines/ie_guide_en.pdf  (accessed on 19 December 2022).

Gardner, H. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences; Basic Books: New York, NY, USA, 2011; pp. 1–496.

Reis, SM; Peters, PM Research on the schoolwide enrichment model: Four decades of insights, innovation, and evolution. Gift. Educ. Int. 2021, 37, 109–141

Renzulli, JS What makes giftedness? Re-examining a definition. Phi Delta Kappan 1978, 60, 180–184.