Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Abstract
In preparation for a workshop at Monash University, where a group of Australian educators were to be involved in writing a book based on their collective wisdom and interest in the fostering of excellence in young people and children in the 1990's, the present writers engaged in a reflective exercise in ascertaining how best to educate our most talented science students. However, in the eventual chapter written by Newhouse et al. (in Goodall and Culhane 1991:70), the theme was related to the concept of empowering a whole school community, 'globally' a far cry from the notion of empowering talented students to be competent, creative and autonomous scientists. In the present social climate in Australia, where there is an increasing demand for creative scientists and caring technologists, it would appear to be both appropriate and timely to consider a Science Extension programme in which both writers were engaged in the early eighties. The focus will be a description of the strategy which progressively produced over a three year period, not only efficacy in the student's preparation for research, efficiency and creativity in open ended inquiry in science, but a group of young people who thought reflectively and productively as scientists. In the light of their analysis of the role of the teacher /mentor and the outcomes of the science extension program, the writers will speculate on the implications for teacher education in the 1990's.
Recommended Citation
Newhouse-Maiden, L., & Washbourne, M. (1991). Experiences in gifted education : implications for teaching strategies for a clever country.. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.1991v16n2.3
Included in
Gifted Education Commons, Science and Mathematics Education Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons