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Definitions of ‘giftedness’ in children include the concept of potential – a native capability, creativity, or intelligence that can be purposefully cultivated. Despite the common assumption that pupils identified as gifted will inevitably achieve educational success, gifted pupils may be underserved in classrooms (or even of the education system altogether) that are unable to meet their specific educational needs in real-world practice.

Horizontal vs vertical extension of the curriculum 

The role of educational programmes for gifted and talented students is to enable them to fully develop their abilities for their own benefit and to benefit society as a whole. There are broadly  used in gifted education:

• Enrichment: horizontal
  • Activities in addition to the mainstream curriculum
  • Tailored to specific abilities and needs
  • Ability grouping brings students of similar skills and abilities together

• Acceleration: vertical
  • Early introduction of advanced content or skills
  • Increase in educational pace (grade skipping, subject-specific advancement)

The way enrichment and acceleration strategies are  varies from country to country. The following table shows the main advantages and disadvantages of enrichment and acceleration.

Source:  2020 

Differentiation strategies

Mainstream teaching can be modified to meet individual needs and create individual challenges. Flexible grouping and ongoing assessment can make differentiation one of the most successful instructional strategies.

• Content (according to ): activities related to remembering, conceptual understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating
• Process: support based on the individual needs and preferred learning media of each student: auditory, visual, verbal and kinaesthetic
• Product: pupils create a product to show content mastery: reports, projects, tests, etc.
• ������Ƶing environment: a differentiated classroom layout is crucial

• Tiered assignments: different levels of difficulty
• Ongoing assessment: continual assessment of needs and strengths
• Self-directed assignments: responsibility for their own progress
• Project-based learning: related to a pupil’s interests

Enrichment and collaborative learning

A  involves pupils working together on activities or learning tasks in pairs or groups small enough to ensure that everyone participates and feels invested in learning.

• Use  to get the greatest learning gains
• Incorporate pupil input into adapting curricula to increase pupil engagement
• ������Ƶ about pupil interests and integrate them into the curriculum
• Offer pupils choices about how they can learn and show mastery of the material
• Encourage pupils to collaborate with peers with similar intellectual drives and pursuits
• Deliver teaching that is just above the pupil’s skill range; gifted pupils are more likely to become engaged with material that is optimally challenging.
• When introducing a complex topic, frame it as interesting and intriguing, rather than difficult

Social and emotional support

Gifted children often struggle with social interactions and emotional regulation despite their intellectual abilities; this is called , in which cognitive, physical and social skills develop at different rates.

It’s important to support gifted students’  and intellectual, needs:

• Encourage pupils to think about their performance in the context of their interests and goals, rather than in relation to others
• Be aware, if pupils are struggling with motivation,  may be a problem if pupils are used to being able to complete their schoolwork without much effort
• Emphasise motivation and the value of work; intelligence is an asset to understanding but not necessarily to achievement
• Use diagnostic tools such as the  to factor in comorbidities such as ADHD and ASD, in consultation with other professionals

Assessment and evaluation

An essential part of gifted education is monitoring gifted pupils and ensuring that their achievement keeps pace with their potential. This is done most effectively by  throughout their educational journey.

• Take a whole-school approach to assessing gifted pupils' progress in collaboration with school administration and special education specialists
• Use your own assessing systems for your students when a whole-school approach is not taken
• Use  to help define areas of strength and need
• Types of diagnostic tools include:
  • Diagnostic assessment: tailors teaching strategies, materials and goals
  • Cognitive assessment: completes standardised intelligence and aptitude tests
  • Formative assessment: compiles ongoing feedback and guidance
  • Norm-referenced observation scales: compares gifted pupils’ results to those of a representative sample of mainstream students
  • Performance observation scales: evaluates specific talent areas