Standards in gifted education

With a push for accountability within both schools and higher education, various teaching standards have been established (AITSL, 2012; AQF, 2013; TEQSA, 2012). BOSTES (NSW) have identified five additional areas, one which covers students with special educational needs, in which gifted students are included. These standards invariably incorporate the notion of ‘understanding how students learn’, ‘differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities’ and ‘establishing challenging learning goals’ but the way in which these standards are written in order to encapsulate the broadest range of students actually dilutes the way in which student needs are genuinely catered for. The NSW Department of Education and Training (now DEC) pushed for broader recognition and commitment to the the needs of gifted students through the publication of Policy and implementation strategies for the education of gifted and talented students (2004). Over the fifteen years that these documents have been released, little has been done in practice to determine the continuity and success of catering for the needs of gifted students. Gifted learners are unique and we argue the need to establish standards that are specific to this student population. How is the National Curriculum addressing this need? What is the status of the recommendations from the Senate reports and DEC documents?