This scoping review examines the literature on infant and toddler giftedness from 1982 to 2024, exploring characteristics, early identifiers, and interactive strategies that support giftedness in infancy. The review highlights the complexity of defining and researching early giftedness, along with the influence of various paradigms and the associated ethical considerations. Key findings include advanced psychomotor, cognitive, and language skills as early indicators of giftedness, and the importance of a stimulating environment and responsive parental interactions. The review also underscores the significance of key early educational experiences and interventions in fostering cognitive development. Despite the challenges and limited research in this field, the review provides valuable insights and calls for further exploration to enhance understanding and support for gifted infants and toddlers.

Acceleration, compacting the curriculum, differentiation, and asynchronous development are just some of the many concepts that underpin the discipline of gifted education and its associated pedagogy. There is little discussion or indeed implementation of these strategies within the tertiary sector. What would tertiary education in Australia look like for students if their learning needs were actively addressed? Can we provide a tertiary learning environment for gifted and dual- or multi-exceptional students by acknowledging their zone of proximal development where learning occurs, and their prior learning is truly recognised and credited? Capable NZ, a school within Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand, provides a model that reveals a potential opportunity for universities in Australia – if we are prepared to truly assess what will work for this important cohort of learners, and to change accordingly.

Welcome to the second issue of the Australasian Journal of Gifted Education for 2025. This is the third of a series of special issues of the journal to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented (AAEGT). This issue also represents my 21st issue as editor, since I took over from Wilma Vialle ten years ago in 2015. I feel very privileged to have led the only transnational peer reviewed academic journal devoted to gifted education in the Asia Pacific region for such a long period of time. I am also proud as this issue coincides with the recent release of the CiteScore for the journal (3.60), which places it as the outright third ranked international journal in gifted education (only behind Gifted Child Quarterly and High Ability Studies), and among the top 30% of all international academic peer reviewed journals in the broad field of education.

Dr Letchmi Devi Ponnusamy is currently Assistant Dean, Professional & Leadership Development at the Graduate and Professional Learning Programme Office and Senior Lecturer with the Psychology and Child & Human Academic Group at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University Singapore. As Assistant Dean, she oversees leadership programmes offered to school department heads and leaders. As a senior lecturer, she supports the High Abilities Studies Master of Education Programme specialization. Of interest to the readership of the Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, she also teaches courses on differentiated instruction, pedagogical practices, and curriculum innovation, at both pre-service and in-service levels (Poulos & Jung, 2024; Scarparolo, 2025; Thraves, 2024). Furthermore, Dr. Devi Ponnusamy has presented several keynote speeches on differentiation, published several articles and book chapters, and has co-edited a book published by Springer Singapore entitled “Curriculum for High Ability Learners: Issues, Trends and Practices.”

The on-going use of the Coolabah Dynamic Assessment (CDA; Chaffey, 2002) protocol to identify students with high learning potential is explored, with a particular emphasis on students from communities that are often underrepresented in opportunities for high potential and gifted learners (i.e., students from culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse communities and/or communities experiencing low socio educational advantage). Recent data from the CDA are discussed and compared to earlier published results, to demonstrate the efficacy of the CDA to achieve post-test outcomes that more closely represent students’ underlying learning potential. Practices that form the basis of the CDA intervention, both cognitive and psycho-social, are analysed to identify those critical for optimising the posttest outcomes of students who underachieved on the pre-test component of the CDA. These findings have implications not only for identifying high potential students from diverse communities and enabling fairer access to programs for high potential and gifted students, but also for identifying and responding to underachievement in the classroom.

Little research has been undertaken into high achieving (school-based) gifted Aboriginal students. This is particularly true for those gifted students that reside in remote Aboriginal communities, where there is often a need for the young person to navigate the demands of their educational aspirations with their desire to remain culturally connected. This article will present a case study that aimed to shed light on the experience of being a gifted Yolŋu (a remote Aboriginal group in East Arnhem Land) young person. This case study includes the perspective of a gifted Yolŋu student, a member of their family, as well as one of their teachers. Findings emphasised the student’s love of learning, and tensions between their educational aspirations and cultural life.

Intellectually gifted students have the right to appropriately challenging learning experiences and the right to reach their potential. In Australia, most intellectually gifted students are in mixed-ability classes and teachers are expected to differentiate to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities; yet little is known about their learning experiences from their perspective. The aim of this qualitative study was to examine the learning experiences of intellectually gifted students in mixed-ability classes in some Western Australian primary schools and to question whether the classrooms were inclusive in terms of meeting their specific learning needs. Twelve students were interviewed from different primary schools. The interview questions focused on their learning experiences and what they would like their teachers to know about these experiences. Three themes were identified from reflexive thematic analysis: wasted learning opportunities; challenge and support; and learning and working with others. Implications for policy, teacher standards and practice are presented as well as recommendations for future research.

Dr Denise Wood, who is an Adjunct Professor at Charles Sturt University, has worked across all levels of education, and has paid attention to the opportunities and experiences of gifted learners in each context. Her career has spanned four decades, beginning in the late 1980s as an enrichment teacher, in the 1990s as an Opportunity Classroom teacher, and from 2005 as a teacher educator at Charles Sturt University. Denise was involved in the NSW Association for Gifted and Talented Children (NSWAGTC; leading the association from 2008 to 2011), has provided inservice programs across school systems, and has been a consultant for schools, including Catholic Schools NSW. Her current passions are opportunities for rural gifted students, particularly girls, creativity in classroom teaching, emerging pedagogies such as slow learning and kindness, and reflective practice (Bannister-Tyrell & Wood, 2021; Maker & Bahar, 2024; Napier et al., 2023; Thraves & Dhurrkay, 2023). She has made numerous contributions to the Australasian Journal of Gifted Education (Wood, 2025; Wood & Vialle, 2015).

Gifted education in Australia has a story punctuated by four senate inquiries initiated by either state or federal governments, and a Commonwealth commissioned report, each charged with investigating the education of gifted and talented children across Australia. A related document is a position paper produced by the Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented (AAEGT) in 1996. Each of these reviews has produced a set of recommendations that set directions for gifted education in Australia. Using qualitative document analysis (Morgan, 2022), this article explores three themes that appear across the reviews: (a) the definition of giftedness/gifted learners, (b) teacher education and development, and (c) the need for greater Australian research focussed on giftedness and gifted learners. This assessment of the inquiries/reports/reviews into the education of gifted learners suggests that addressing these themes will continue the story as a useful way to inform and direct the future of gifted education in Australia.