Portraits of programmes in gifted education - a historical revisitation

Abstract

Giftedness is a controversial topic, and gifted education, a controversial debate, and it has been for years (Oswald & de Villiers, 2013, p. 1). “Gifted education is a complex issue” (Oswald & de Villiers, 2013, p. 1). According to Neethling (1985) during the 17th, 18th, and early 19th century there was no distinct reference made of planned or casual ways of instruction or accommodation for South African gifted learners. Even then the curriculum was a ‘one size fits all’ approach where it was intended to offer each child equal opportunities (Neethling, 1985). At a stage South Africa, a third world country, along with Israel was in the foreground in providing for the gifted (Kokot, 1992); the notion was placed in the background after the first democratic election and has not been taken up ever since South Africa became a democracy (Milne & Mhlolo, 2021). Is gifted education in South Africa worth our time?

The focus of this study will be on the history of gifted education and how it was experienced in South Africa during the late sixties up to the early nineties, what the system looked like and how it was experienced, the data collected will be done by means of interviews. The purpose of this study is to determine what aspects of this systems was (UN) successful and what could be seen as valuable in today’s attempt to gifted education. The construction will be done by means of portraits of people that experienced the system during that time, to gain deeper understanding of what it was like. This is a qualitative study, which relies on interpretivist as a lens. The research questions will be answer through an arts-informed methodology.

All children have the ability to learn and all children have the right to basic quality education (Department of Basic Education, 2001), including the gifted, “…in terms of human rights, equal opportunity for all should not mean obstruction of opportunity for some because of diverse levels of ability” (Landsberg, et al., 2016, p. 567). The father of giftedness Lewis Termin once said; “True democracy demands that every child, whether superior, average, or inferior in ability be given the fullest opportunity to develop to the limit of his [or her] mental capacity. It is the gifted child, more than any other, who has hitherto lacked this opportunity…”

(Seagoe, 1978, p. 80). Kokot (1994:13) also said something similar, “…democracy means equality of opportunity for all levels of ability… ‘Gifted children’ have equal human rights to an education and a curriculum that meets their particular needs.”