March 2010
Mr Abraham Tang
Associate Director, Student
Programmes and Services
鄧景康
總監 ( 學生服務 )

 The Background and Development of
HKAGE
 About the HKAGE

1990 The Education Commission Report No.4 initiated the development and implementation of GE in Hong Kong
1994 Launch of 3year ‘Pilot School-based Programme for Academically Gifted Children on programme planning, curriculum development, student selection and teacher training
1995 Fung Hon Chu Gifted Education Centre was established as a resource centre for promoting and supporting gifted students, parents and teachers
1996 Education Report recommendation that gifted education should be included in the core curriculum of initial teacher education, in refresher courses and in long term development programmes for teachers
2000 Current gifted education policy - three-tier framework- in Hong Kong was formulated
2003 Gifted Education Section of Education & Manpower Bureau (now EDB) was formally established to implement the gifted education policy
2006 HKSAR Government first moots establishment of the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education
2008 Executive Director of HKAGE takes up post

香港教統會第四號報告書
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 a high level of measured intelligence specific academic aptitude in a subject area creative thinking superior talent in visual and performing arts natural leadership of peers psychomotor ability – outstanding performance or ingenuity in athletics, mechanical skills or other areas requiring gross or fine motor coordination
Strategy paper in 2000 the 3-tier service delivery mode

Three-tier Implementation Model and Target Students
Mode
Level Three:
Off-site support
Level Two:
School-based pullout programmes
Level One:
School-based whole-class approach
Student Category
Exceptionally gifted students
Students with special talents/ outstanding academic results
Students with outstanding performance in specific domains
All students
Students with outstanding performance in academic subjects
General
Enrichment
Curriculum Content Specialized
(Subject/Domain)

 The ability to perform tasks more quickly ,
 The ability to reason well and solve problems more readily,
 The ability to handle complexity , and
 The ability to adapt to new environmental demands and to shape environments .

 Witty: A child is gifted whose performance in a potentially valuable line of human activity is consistently remarkable (1958)
 Passow: Talent is the capacity for superior achievement in any socially valuable area of human endeavor, but limiting the areas to such academic fields as languages, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics and such artistic fields as music, graph and plastic arts, performing arts, mechanic arts, and the field of human relations (1965).

 Renzulli: Composite set of factors treated equally (creativity, motivation, and above average intelligence ) (1978)
 Gardner: Extraordinary ability/performance in seven different intelligence areas , including verbal, logical mathematical, spatial visual, musical, kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal (1983)

Gardner, 1983
 Spatial  Intrapersonal
 Linguistic  Musical
 Bodily-Kinesthetic  Logical-
Mathematical
 Interpersonal

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Above average abilities: general abilities (like processing information, integrating experiences, and abstract thinking) and specific abilities (like the capacity to acquire knowledge, perform in an activity).
Creativity: the fluency, flexibility, and originality of thought, an openness to experience, sensitivity to stimulations, and a willingness to take risks.
Task commitment: motivation turned into action. Without task commitment high achievement is simply not possible.
Only if characteristics from all three rings work together can high achievement or gifted behaviour be witnessed.

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Gifts & talents
Domains of giftedness
Fields of talents
Catalysts
Giftedness corresponds to competence which is distinctly above average in one or more domains of human aptitudes

Giftedness: Contemporary Understanding
David Perkins synthesizes much of the research and theories of intelligence and groups them into three strands:
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Neural intelligence is rooted in a biological system and determined by neural efficiency —the brain’s physical processes. This is the most traditional view of intelligence.
Experiential intelligence involves “know-how” or knowledge of typical patterns or situations. As a result, intelligence is a matter of experience with thinking in particular contexts.
Reflective intelligence is based on knowledge of thinking strategies — knowing how to think, how to monitor one’s thinking, and how to persist.
Perkins suggests that instead of choosing one, all three strands contribute to intelligent behavior
Perkins 1995 “Outsmarting IQ: The Emerging Science of Learnable Intelligence”

A shift from … to…
High IQ score
Diagnosis and treat approach
Identifying and labeling students as
‘gifted’
Screening and referral
Intelligence is multifaceted
Education-provision Approach :
Verifying that services are appropriate, challenging and developmental
Recognizing the needs for differentiating our responses
Searching for strengths and talents in many ways

Gardner 1995 “Reflections on Multiple Intelligences”

IN THE PAST
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 giftedness concerned primarily with high IQ assumed that gifted students were born with high intelligence – genetic trait
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 students identifiable by high grades and test scores; capable of excelling in all areas of school and of life
 Unchangeable over time
TODAY
There are different ways if being gifted (Gardner, Renzulli, Sternberg)
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Learning predispositions
Conventional IQ tests only measure logical-mathematical & linguistic intelligence
Many IQ tests have a “ceiling effect”

Gifted children are smart, so they can get by on their own
When students are not presented with learning experiences that are appropriate for their abilities, they lose motivation and sometimes even their interest in learning and school. Brain research suggests that the brain will not maintain its level of development if students are not challenged
Gifted students excel in all school subjects
While there are students who are high achievers in all areas, many others have subject-specific strengths. Gifted students may struggle in some subjects or activities, while they soar in others. Some gifted students even have learning disabilities – twice exceptionality

Gifted students are a homogeneous group
Just like any other group, gifted students have different interests, areas of strength, ability levels, and temperaments. There is not a definitive list of gifted characteristics, nor will all students’ needs be met with the same strategies. Providing differentiated instruction is a necessity, even in advanced classes
All children are gifted
This is a well-intentioned belief, and it is true that all children can learn and all children have areas of strength. Nevertheless, it is a fact that some students learn more quickly and are capable of a higher level of work than their age. Gifted students need different content and instruction in order to meet their needs

 Superior learning process
 Motivation to learn and learning style
 Learning outcomes
 Relations with peers
 Self-perception and affective aspects
 Uneven rates of development