Too Clever by Half : A Fair Deal for Gifted Children

Surely able pupils have got it all -- intelligence, success, a shining future. How can it be fair to make extra provision when our schools are already hard pressed to deliver the basics? Illustrated with case studies of highly able children currently in British schools, this book demonstrates the range of difficulties they can face, and how inadequate provision can lead to underachievement and disaffection. Carrie Winstanley works within an inclusive definition of high ability that does not ignore underachievers. She shows how unfair and unproductive it is to allow children to have their time wasted in school while they kick their heels and wait for other pupils to catch up.Discussions about the provision for the gifted are obscured by charges of elitism and teachers are understandably reluctant to favour the already favoured. But school provision should be fair to all pupils, including the able, who do need challenge beyond the statutory curriculum. The author examines the current climate of egalitarianism in schools and uses political philosophy to argue that provision is needed to ensure the personal well being of highly able children as well as their potentially significant contribution to society. The principle that should be applied is equality of quality of challenge. The author explores whether there is a singular method to meet pupils' heterogeneous needs and evaluates the attractive solution of thinking skills programs as part of a review of practice and provision for fostering gifted children's learning.

Carrie Winstanley is Senior Lecturer at Roehampton University of Surrey.