Young Gifted and Talented: Journeys through Australia, China, South Africa and the United States of America
Edited by Anna Riggall
Dr Anna Riggall is Head of Research at Education Development Trust. She
oversees the organisation’s portfolio of international research and supports research activity across the business. She spent her early career teaching in Russia, southern Europe and the Caribbean and has worked as an educational researcher since the early 2000s. She holds an MA in Education and Development and a PhD in Education.
Between March and May 2009, 40 teachers visited four countries: Australia, China, South Africa and the United States of America. The purpose of their visits was to explore the provision of education for gifted and talented students.
The YG&T trips were intense programmes of school visits, meetings and discussions with educationalists and policy makers. The aim was to provide an opportunity for leading G&T teachers to ‘experience, reflect, discuss, analyse and learn’ (DfE, 2009).
Ten of the prizewinners visited Australia, eleven went to South Africa, ten to Los Angeles in the United States, and nine to China. They were united in that they shared some level of responsibility for G&T provision in their schools but represented a range of subject areas, levels of schooling, levels of seniority, ages, years of experience, rural and city schools, secular and non-secular schools, areas of expertise (for example the group included heads of year, subject coordinators, class teachers and Local Authority consultants and advisers). Each country group was led by a facilitator.