Getting started on setting up a Gifted & Talented programme in your school: Implications for Practice

Can we build inclusive classrooms where all learners needs are met? Arising from her new book ‘The Gifted Learner: How to Help’, Fidelma Healy Eames, PhD, MSc., BEd., argues that classrooms that respond to gifted and talented learners’ needs can meet the needs of all learners.

She is delighted to offer this newly created course. Two and a half years in the making, she draws from research and practice informed by nineteen case studies with gifted learners ranging from 10 years – 58 years of age with learners represented at primary, second-level, thirdlevel and adulthood. Her work draws on a total of 57 interviews conducted with students, parents and a ‘nominated’ teacher who gifted
learners felt understood them.

This course spans a wide range of learners. It highlights how to identify, recognise, understand and support the gifted and talented learner, the underachieving gifted learner and the twice-exceptional (2e) learner, ie., a student with a gift and a disability. Usefully, each chapter contains a ‘how to help’ section for parents and teachers (see attached flyer for further information). She discusses the key components of setting up a Gifted and Talented programme in your school.

Intended Audience
Teachers (upper primary and second-level), Guidance Counsellors, Study Skills Co-ordinators, Parents.

Bio

Fidelma’s enduring interest is making learning easier. Passionate about enabling learners to develop the mindset and skills to take ownership for their own learning, she is Director and Lead Educator with Study & Careers.
Dr. Fidelma Healy Eames, PhD, MSc(Ed), BEd., has a long background in teaching and learning and teacher education. She began offering ‘learning to Learn’ and Wellbeing courses to schools and colleges nationally from 2002 with a team of specially trained teachers. In 2007 she published ‘Switching on for Learning: A Student Guide to Exam & Career Success’ which has become a core text for teachers, parents and students interested in becoming independent learning. In 2021 she developed an online ‘learning to learn’ programme used across second-level schools.
Her research interests include language, literacy and learning, the writer’s voice, wellbeing and issues surrounding equity, diversity and inclusion. Her new book ‘The Gifted Learner: How to Help’ (Pavilion, 2022) builds on this theme and reveals a fascinating and engaging account of learnings and insights arising from her research with gifted learners, ages ten to fifty-eight years, their parents and teachers.