Teachers' Responses to the Gifted and Talented Policy in the UK: A Review of the Landscape

Abstract

The study reported in this paper explores how primary school teachers in England are responding to the gifted and talented initiative, introduced by the UK government a decade ago. A survey carried out with a national sample of primary school teachers showed that an increasing proportion of teachers, compared with a survey carried out in 1996, were identifying their gifted and talented children. There was also an increase in the number of schools which have policies for gifted and talented education. However, the survey also indicated a number of issues which need addressing if the initiative is to achieve its objective of providing the best possible educational opportunities for children. For example, it was found that a significant number of practitioners were not aware of the existence of the National Quality Standards for gifted and talented education, provided by the UK government in 2007, and the subject- specific criteria provided by the UK's Curriculum Authority for identification and provision have been largely ignored. The process of identifying gifted and talented children seems haphazard and based on pragmatic considerations. Analysis of teachers' responses also revealed a range of views and theoretical positioning held by them, which may have implications for classroom practice.