Conference explores the boundaries of gifted education

Why are some gifted children willing to tackle new challenges while others seem insecure or uninterested? Are there strategies that teachers can employ that promote a more achievement-oriented attitude? Professor Del Siegle from the University of Connecticut will outline strategies for increasing gifted students’ motivation when he delivers a keynote address to the Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented (AAEGT) National Gifted Conference at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) this week.

With the theme Beyond the Boundaries in Gifted Education, the conference will bring together members of the gifted education community, including researchers, educators, families, health professionals and gifted students, to examine current and cutting-edge issues from the perspectives of research and practice. Areas covered will include curriculum, pedagogy, twice exceptionality, creativity, advocacy, socio-emotional development, diversity, career development and the allied health fields.

Other keynote speakers are Professor Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Director of the Centre for Talent Development at Northwestern University in the United States, and former NSW Premier and Foreign Minister Bob Carr.  

GERRIC, within the UNSW School of Education, will run a concurrent Youth Summit for Years 7 to 12 focusing on  Beyond the Boundaries: Sustainable Communities, as well as a school holiday program for gifted students in Years 3 to 6. GERRIC, formerly known as the Gifted Education Research Resource and Information Centre, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. 

School holiday sessions include How to talk so people will listen, Switch on to Electricity and Adventures in conservation biology. Students taking part in the Youth Summit will ill explore the potential for living sustainably as a community. Over the three days they will work in small groups to plan and map out a sustainable community in one of three selected environments in Australia – meeting the unique challenges of the environment, planning innovative solutions to the challenges and creating a representation of their solution. Their final display will go on show for conference delegates on the last day of the conference. 

Other highlights of the conference include:

• Sixty years in gifted education: Lessons learned (Miraca Gross, UNSW)
• Taking ownership: Gifted education policy and our school (Melinda Gindy, co-founder and president of GFSG Inc)
• Motivating High Ability Students: Lessons for Gifted, Talented and Prodigious Students (Professor Andrew Martin, UNSW)
• In Search of Greatness: Gifted Indigenous Students and the Power of Positive Racial-Ethnic Identities (Dr Melinda Webber, University of Auckland)

The National Gifted Conference is hosted by the UNSW School of Education in partnership with the Australian Association for Education of the Gifted and Talented and Gifted Families Support Group Inc (GFSG Inc).

For the full conference program with presenters’ abstracts and bios go to: https://www.nationalgiftedconference2016.arts.unsw.edu.au/conference-registration-open-now

What: AAEGT National Gifted Conference: Beyond the Boundaries in Gifted Education

When: Thursday, 29 September – Saturday, 1 October

Where: Central Lecture Block, UNSW, Kensington