Support Given to the Gifted Learner: Lessons from Selected Primary Schools in South Africa and Zimbabwe

Abstract

There is a global discourse that positions talent as the ‘new oil’ that should underpin better functioning educational systems in any country in the 21st century. For this reason, the potential contribution of the mathematically gifted and talented to the global economy is becoming increasingly important. Yet in both the Zimbabwe and South African education systems there is a curious silence about the education of gifted children. This study investigated the extent to which the needs of mathematically gifted children are met in some selected Primary Schools. Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT) is the framework that was considered suitable for anchoring the study. We used purposive sampling to select 72 mildly gifted primary school students and 24 teachers. Results show that teachers were generally not trained on how to teach gifted students. Despite this lack of training, it was interesting to note that teachers can identify most of the gifted students in their classes. The students felt their schools had inadequate resources; the education system ignored them. We recommend that teacher training be the starting point for starting the programs for supporting gifted children.