Information

A rising tide lifts all ships Professor Joseph Renzulli



REAP GATE INITIATIVE CURRICULUM DIFFERENTIATION

The purpose of defining and identifying giftedness is to uncover individual abilities, qualities, and interests, and the objective of differentiation is to further develop them.

The REAP GATE cluster initiative in its simplest terms is about enabling gifted and talented students to discover and follow their passions. It’s about opening doors, removing ceilings, and raising expectations by providing an educational experience that strives towards excellence.

Selection of Possible Initiatives Initiatives will be selected that represent a number of underlying principles for guiding differentiation for gifted and talented students as set out in the Ministry publication “ Gifted and talented Students- meeting their needs in New Zealand Schools”

The principles to consider when selecting initiates are:

v Content is related to broad based issues, themes, problems v Learning occurs across curriculum areas v Allow for in depth learning v Develop independence v Develop productive, complex abstract and /or higher order thinking skills v Focus on open ended tasks v Encourage development of products that challenge existing ideas and that produce new ideas v Encourage development of products that use a variety of techniques, materials and forms v Encourage development of self understanding, that is recognizing and using ones abilities, becoming self directed, and appreciating likenesses and differences between oneself and others v Reflect special character of Southland Community v Reflect Renzulli model of general exploratory activities ( enrichment ), group training activities ( process) and individual and small group investigations of real problems ( product)

Suggestions for initiates may come from: Cluster Schools’ v Based off gifted and talented referral nomination forms v Student Focus Groups v REAP Staff / Tutors

Implementing Initiatives

The marker model shows how content can be adjusted to accommodate the ability of gifted students to manipulate abstract ideas and deal with complexity. The process component involves the methods that are used by teachers to present information, the questions asked of students, and the mental and physical activities expected of them. The model also emphasizes the importance of allowing students to create products to solve real world problems and the opportunity to present work in a variety of ways.
 * Marker Model (1982) **

The implementation of initiatives for our cluster will consider the following in the delivery of experiences. ||||  Content Modifications Abstraction || Going beyond the facts || Complexity || Dealing with greater depth and breadth || Variety || Being exposed to new ideas or content || Organization || Content organized around key concepts or abstract ideas || Study of people || Relating content to humans-research lives of creative and productive individuals || Methods of inquiry || Discovery, investigation of content through experiences || Product Modifications || Real World problems || Investigating real life problems || Real Audiences || Using products for evaluation by an audience || Evaluations’ || Undertaking self/peer/teacher assessments || || transformation Learning transformed into practical uses || Process Modifications || Higher Order Thinking Use rather than acquisition of information || Open ended Processing || Encouraging divergent thinking || Proof and reasoning || Give reasons and substantiate conclusions || Element of choice || Having opportunities for self directed learning || Group Interaction || Enabling like minds both structured and unstructured ||

As a Cluster we have identified that it is important for initiatives to encourage connectedness to the students’ schools environment through context for learning, student’s goals and strategic planning priorities.