Diana Whitton

Robust Hope and Teacher Education Policy

The research question for this paper is: How can we mobilise robust hope in the analysis of teacher education policy? Specifically, this paper asks how a robust hope framework might speak to the Top of the Class, a report into teacher education by the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Vocational Training.

Regular Classroom Practices with Gifted Students in Grades 3 and 4 in New South Wales, Australia.

The Regular Classroom Practices Survey (RCPS) was conducted to determine the extent to which gifted and talented students received differentiated education in the regular classroom across New South Wales. This research paralleled work recently completed in the United States of America. The survey focused on information on the teachers, their classrooms and regions. Classroom practices, in relation to the curriculum modifications for gifted and average students, were analyzed. The survey sample was drawn from the three sectors of education, Government, Catholic and Independent schools, within the ten regions of New South Wales. This included 401 third and fourth grade teachers in government schools, 138 teachers in Catholic schools and 67 teachers in independent schools. The research questions that guided this study were: (1) Do teachers modify the curriculum content to meet the needs of gifted students? (2) Do teachers modify their instructional practices for gifted students? (3) Are there any organizational variations in planning to meet the educational needs of gifted children? (4) Are there differences in the types of regular classroom services provided for gifted students in relation to the type of school or region?

Picture storybooks and starting school

This paper reports an investigation of children’s picture storybooks about school. Previous research has indicated that parents and educators choose to read books about school to children as a way of helping children become familiar with school expectations. Drawing on over 100 children’s picture storybooks, the content (text and illustrations) of these books has been analysed according to categories established through the Starting School Research Project, enabling a comparison of the issues raised by children and the issues addressed in picture storybooks.

The Training of Teachers of Gifted Students in Universities in Australia

The training of teachers of gifted students is necessary for students to be afforded the most suitable forms of education in both mainstream and specialist classes. This paper examines the training of teachers in gifted education in Australia in light of the political structure of the country which impacts upon the options for learning for gifted students. Within the Commonwealth of Australia there are three levels of government which all have different responsibilities for the training of teachers and the education of students. The tertiary sector is governed by the Federal Government whilst the primary and secondary sectors are governed by the State/Territory Governments. This structure creates difficulties for the training of teachers of gifted students in particular that the state and territory teachers are not required to have formal qualifications in gifted education to be a teacher of gifted students despite gifted education being an educational priority. This paper examines the limited number of courses available to teachers on gifted education and the level they are taught.