inspiring gifted and talented students

AfL, Student Voice, G&T and Post-16 inspiring gifted and talented students

Why link these?

inspiring gifted and talented students We want this very able student to have the confidence and the skills to excel at school/college, at university and throughout his future career, fulfilling his potential. AfL He needs to understand systems and processes associated with learning, including assessment He needs to able to interact with teachers, lecturers and colleagues to adapt his learning environment so that he learns effectively He needs to be constantly assessing his own learning and the evidence of learning he is producing Student Voice He needs to be engaged with the systems and processes involved in his education He needs to be comfortable communicating with teachers, lecturers and colleagues He needs to believe that learning is something he does and not something that is done to him

inspiring gifted and talented students Why do we think there is a problem?

inspiring gifted and talented students Villiers Park Educational Trust and Student Voice Feedback from students who have attended our residential courses over the last 40 years Interviewing students at 17 colleges over the last two years Conferences at Villiers Park where post-16 students discuss: –A manifesto for post-16 Gifted and Talented –What does excellent provision look like? Students-with-teachers courses –Maths and History in 2008 –Psychology and English in 2009

inspiring gifted and talented students Passive learner Used to teacher-directed learning Poor independent learning skills Many strategies for dealing with boredom Low expectations of his day-to-day classroom experience Believes teachers want formulaic answers, not his personal opinion or any complex analysis Gives teachers (and examiners) what he thinks they want Equates ‘Student Voice’ with powerless school councils, litter and occasional discussions about uniform An able underachiever at post-16

inspiring gifted and talented students Our approach Make Student Voice real by focusing it on learning –Asking students to evaluate current provision –Consulting them about improvements to systems and processes that impact on learning –Creating opportunities for them to have input into planning –Making it possible for a student to personalise his or her own learning pathways –Treating them as colleagues Developing AfL to exemplary level as described in IQS5

inspiring gifted and talented students Your task today Choose a context –High-performing Gifted student adapting to college –Student being asked to share her experience of self and peer assessment with teachers –Turning around a disengaged able underachiever –Teacher coping with a mixed ability class at AS level Read the case study Use your expertise, your experience and the information in the folder to come up with way forward for that student, teacher or school/college leader Feedback to the rest of the group

inspiring gifted and talented students Contact us Other materials used during this workshop were: –Case studies –Information sheets –Videos of Student Voice activities If you want to know more please contact Moira Sheehan:

inspiring gifted and talented students