Gifted Education For Singaporeans
"New day, new adventures." ~ Gillian Teo
Director, Experienced Tutors
Imperial College London (MEd in University Learning and Teaching)
Since 2007, all primary schools in Singapore have programmes to develop high-ability students who have specific strengths and interests in English, Math, or Science.
The Gifted Education Programme (GEP) in its current form will be discontinued from the Primary 1 cohort in 2024.
What Is Giftedness?
Asynchrony is an important definition of the word Gifted.
Asynchrony means that while we might be very strong and ahead of our age cohort in Math for say 3 years, our Math ability is behind our cohort by say 1 to 2 years.
Or, we could be a young child who can solve Algebra questions but are not able to tie our shoelaces.
Basically, it means that the mental, physical, emotional and social abilities of children tend to develop at different paces.
Generally giftedness is a neurodiversity with a socio-emotional and learning difference.
Research shows that it is genetic – meaning that while early experiences are highly influential, gifted people are usually just born the way they are.
An intellectually gifted child is naturally endowed with a high degree of mental ability or extraordinary ability in a specific area of activity or knowledge.
Using a standard IQ test with a score of 100 as the “norm”, the child that earn 130 or above are considered gifted; and 145 is profoundly gifted.
Increasingly however, schools use multiple measures of giftedness. They assess a wider variety of talents that include verbal, mathematical, spatial-visual, musical, ability to focus on a task, creativity, and interpersonal abilities.
Tests vary widely in their validity and reliability for different ages and cultures. Therefore, fair identification procedures have to take into account a wide variety of behaviours that may be signs of giftedness.
It is generally agreed that gifted children are different from their peers in ways other than intellectual ability alone.
In a study involving over 1,500 gifted children with IQs higher than 140, the participants were observed to have a greater drive to achieve, along with greater mental and social adjustment.
How Should Gifted Children Be Educated And Developed?
Theoretically there are three ways of educating children who are intellectually and academically more advanced than their peers:
- Acceleration. The gifted child is encouraged to learn material at a more rapid pace, or is promoted more rapidly through grades
- Enrichment. The gifted child works through the usual grades at the usual pace, but with a curriculum supplemented by a variety of academic activities
- Differentiation. Gifted children are accelerated or enriched within the regular classroom
Research shows that grouping gifted children together is best for them.
This does no harm to average children, and acceleration in these groups provides greater opportunity to challenge and intellectually develop the gifted children than having only enrichment alone.
To Test, Or Not To Test?
If you are considering testing your child for giftedness, you should first ask yourself why.
Every child is unique and gifted in his or her own way, and every child faces challenges.
Labeling a child and separating them from others may not improve their happiness or success.
It is far more important to make sure they are doing work in school that interest and challenge them.
If you are happy with your child’s school, and are confident that they are making progress, a test might not be worth the effort.
However, if it seems that your child’s class is too easy for them, a test may be beneficial for them.
Being assessed as gifted could allow them to enroll in special enrichment programs outside school that might better meet their needs.
Does Your Child Need To Be Known As Gifted?
A “gifted” label is not what matters.
The more important question is what you are going to do to challenge your child.
The goal is to make sure that your child is learning something new every day, and getting the attention that they deserve.
The key to reaching all learners is differentiation – making sure that each student is working at his or her own level.
Lifelong Learner
Whether or not you decide to test – and whether your child is assessed as “gifted”, it is important to keep in mind that success in school and in life is about more than just a test score or label.
Success requires things like creativity, commitment, and inspiration.
We all want our children to be lifelong learning, whatever their ability level.
Even profoundly gifted students are not likely to get far without hard work.
Conversely, diligent work can pay off even when learning does not come easily.
Gifted Education For Singaporeans
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