Gifted Education in Oman: Analyses from a Learning-Resource Perspective

Abstract

The Education and Learning Capital Model (ELCM), based on the Actiotope Model of Giftedness was used as a framework to explain the current practices dedicated to serve gifted education. This article addresses the status quo of gifted education in Oman according to the ELDM. The model comprised ten components including action learning capital, economic education capital, cultural education capital, social educational capital, infrastructure education capital, organismic learning capital, telic learning capital, episodical learning capital, and attentional learning capital. Questions related to these ten elements were answered by analyzing reports from the Ministry of Education (MoE) and royal decrees that serve the education of gifted students. Also, interviews were conducted with gifted students, teachers, and administrators, and parents of gifted students to consolidate the answers to the ten questions based on the ELCM. The article concluded with some recommendations and suggestions of supporting gifted education in Oman.

Keywords:

• actiotope model
• gifted
• education
• Oman

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Gifted education in Oman witnessed significant progress during the last decade. This paper addresses the status of gifted education in Oman in the light of the Actiotope Model of Giftedness. The model comprised ten components including action learning capital, economic education capital, cultural education capital, social educational capital, infrastructure education capital, organismic learning capital, telic learning capital, episodical learning capital, and attentional learning capital. To better discuss the status quo of gifted education in the light of the model, several focus group discussions were conducted to elicit themes that could assist the reader gain more information about the progress of gifted education in Oman. The participants comprised three groups: gifted students, administrators/teachers, and gifted students’ parents. These participants came from three governorates in which research assistants conducted the focus group for the three groups. The results indicated that there is a need to provide the field with more trained staff, more identification tools, more enrichment and acceleration opportunities for gifted students.

1. Introduction

Gifted education in Oman started in 2008 when the hierarchical structure of the Ministry of Education (MoE) changed to include a department for gifted education. Before then, no special programs dedicated to gifted students in the MoE existed. There were activities, competitions, and local and international participations for all students including those who are gifted. The Dept. of Gifted Education, established in 2008, aimed at planning for a comprehensive strategy of gifted education. This strategy was developed by experts either from MoE or external partners in the country and took a considerable time to be recognized by the Education Council in Oman.

The Gifted Education Dept. offered workshops and awareness programs, upon its establishment, for school principals, vice-principals, psychological counseling specialists, social workers, and school administrators to educate them about educating gifted students, enrichment programs, and identification and assessment. These workshops and programs lasted for three years. In 2011, the department stopped offering these training workshops as they did not have sufficient gains for recipients. Another reason is that the department had a scarcity of staff, and it did not have branches/offices in the country governorates. The department then started to implement specialized programs for gifted students in the fields of information technology, innovation programs, and programming languages according to the available resources and nomination instruments.

Country reports in relation to activities for gifted students were submitted to the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC) Newsletter during 2014 until 2019. There are no records showing if reports were submitted after then. The report was generated by a professor from Sultan Qaboos University who reported gifted education activities in the country. There is a need to have a central responsible commission to collect required information to prepare country reports. Table 1 shows the dates in relation to programs and activities offered to gifted students.

Table 1. Dates of programs and activities offered to gifted students

Program Name	Start-End Date
The Summer Program for Gifted Students	July 29 to 9 August 2018
The Summer Program for Gifted Students	July 21 to 31 July 2019
Tharwa Enrichment Program for Gifted Students	February 28 to March 26, 2020
The Winter Program for Gifted Students	December 22 to 2 January 2021

As for the outcomes of the gifted education programs in the country, specialists from the Directory of Diagnosis and Gifted Education were trained to use assessment and identification tools and the training is still ongoing. However, the programs that are currently implemented are not based on evidence-based practices in gifted education. Also, there is no monitoring system to evaluate the programs for several reasons such as, a) lack of databases available about the number of gifted students in the educational system, b) the lack of specialists on the MoE level and educational directories, and most importantly on the level of public schools that are supposed to identify and nurture giftedness, according to a clear action plan, c) lack of assessment and identification tools and lack of trained specialists on using these tools and writing detailed reports about each gifted student, d) Until now, no placement options were implemented (e.g., pull-out programs, special classes for the gifted or other programs).

Ziegler et al. (2017) posited that profusion of learning resources characterizes gifted environments. They also viewed that these learning resources are also available within the individual and accordingly there needs to be a theory that incorporates both exogenous learning resources (outside the individual) and endogenous learning resources (within the individual). The purpose of these resources is twofold; endogenous learning resources are important in reaching and fulfilling exogenous learning resources and they accentuate effective actions. Ziegler and Baker (2013) developed a categorization of learning resources in the light of the Actiotope Model of Giftedness which stands on the dynamic systems theory (Ziegler, 2005). The model focuses on the individual, informational, and social environments. The individual’s actions determine the environmental component. According to the model, endogenous learning resources are labeled “learning capital” and exogenous learning resources as education learning capital.

There is an unmet need in Oman for more research related to the identification and education of gifted students. Kazem et al. (2019) investigated the factor structure of the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (SRBCSS) in a sample of 672 students from grades 5 to 10 in Oman. The exploratory factor analysis yielded 13 factors and support the factorial validity of the instrument. Mohamed et al. (2017) explored the use of Gifted Rating Scales-School Form (GRS-S) in identifying gifted students in a sample that consisted of 907 students from grades 1 to 10 in give governorates. The results showed that teachers rated females as higher than males in four subscales, namely, motivation, artistic talent, academic achievement, and intellectual ability. Also, Hemdan & Kazem 2019) investigated the developmental trajectories of high-achieving students’ creativity using the Profile of Creative Abilities (PCA) test. They found evidence of a developmental trend of creativity across grade levels. Females’ creativity index score was higher than boys. Hemdan Mohamed and Omara (2020) explored the psychometric properties of the Gifted Rating Scales-School Form (GRS-S) on a representative sample of 907 students in five governorates in Oman. The results supported the six-factor structure of the original scale. The metric invariance results showed that the six-factor structure of the GRS-S was equal across grade levels and gender.

2. Method

This article was based on the basic principles underlying the Actiotope Model of Giftedness (Ziegler et al., 2019). To address the different elements of the Actiotope Model, several focus group discussions were conducted with gifted students, parents of gifted students, and school administrators/teachers. The researchers thought that the questions raised in the model could be addressed by exploring the voices of those participants.

The authors of this study collected some information from the Royal Decrees, MoE decrees, and official reports. Answers to some questions were consolidated by the perceptions and views of gifted students, their parents, and school administrators and teachers through conducting focus group discussions. These discussions were conducted with these groups in three governorates, namely, Musandam, Dhofar, and Dakhiliyah. Each focus group comprised 4–5 participants. The participants were randomly selected by research assistants who moderated the required ethical approval and conducted the focus group discussions. The questions raised in the discussions were mainly those in the endogenous and exogenous learning resources that couldn’t be answered by analyzing documents, decrees, and reports.

3. Data collection

First, the researchers contacted the Technical Office of Research and Development (TOSD) to take permission to conduct focus group discussions with students, teachers, and parents. After receiving the permission, three governorates were chosen to select the three groups from each. Schools were selected based on the willingness of gifted students and their parents to participate in the study. Then, the participants were consented to participate in the study after they were briefed about the purpose and the expected information that needs to be collected. The gifted students’ grades in the three groups ranged from grade 7 to grade 12. The administrators/teachers group consisted of teachers (e.g., music, Arabic) social workers, school activities specialists, principals, and vice-principals. The group of parents of gifted students consisted of male and female parents who has one or more child with giftedness officially diagnosed by the school. Each of the three groups consisted of 5–7 participants. A total of three focus group discussions were conducted for each group. One facilitator from each of the three governorates was chosen to conduct the discussions with the three groups from each area. The facilitators were trained by the research team on how to look for information, ask focused questions, and monitor participants active involvement. The questions that guided the focus group discussions were mainly based on the Actiotope Model. For example, questions directed to the group of gifted students included:

• How are talents perceived by their peers?

• What talents are valued?

• What learning experiences do gifted students have in general?

• Do they find learning enjoyable?

• Do they feel that school learning is useful for their lives? What other concerns do they have they that could interfere with their talent development?

Examples of the questions directed to the focus group discussions for the administrators/teachers group include:

• How successful is gifted education in the country?

• How is gifted education supported financially and materially?

Examples of the questions directed to the focus group discussions for the administrators/teachers group include:

• Do parents spend money for the promotion of sports talents, learning of musical instruments, and participation in summer schools?

• Which persons are involved in the promotion of gifted students?

The researchers attended to meaningful information that led to any follow-up questions to explore the respondents’ views and perceptions (Rubin & Rubin, 2005). All the discussions were conducted online using different applications such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. The sessions were recorded for subsequent transcription (Hatcher et al., 2012). Two research assistants worked on transcribing the interviews into Arabic. Then, the transcripts were shared with the participants for accuracy check. Few remarks were received, and the transcripts were edited accordingly. The Arabic transcripts were translated into English and checked for back translation. The inductive data analysis was used to generate meanings from the interviews and identify relationships and patterns in participants’ responses (Dudovskiy, 2016). NVivo 11 was used to code the data obtained from the discussions. Patterns in participants’ responses including similarities and differences were checked. The researchers interpreted these data and reached some conclusions as indicated in the results below.

4. Actional learning capital

According to Ziegler and Baker (2013), the Actional Learning Capital, as an endogenous learning resource, refers to the collection of the individual’s actions he/she can accomplish. Examples include skills/abilities related to dancing or swimming or playing music or solving mathematical problems. As such, the following presents a detailed view of the recent achievements by Omani talented students in several regional and international competitions.

The MoE participates in several competitions and international programs related to giftedness in various scientific, literacy, and physical education disciplines. This participation comes with a belief to consolidate students’ competencies through the regional, Gulf, and international participation that polishes students’ talents and develops their skills in their strength areas. Looking at the administrative hierarchy of the MoE, there are divisions/units in charge of participating in these competitions such as the Department of Innovation and Scientific Olympiad, which oversees scientific competitions and training and preparation programs for scientifically gifted students before they go to regional or international participation. The purpose is to take care of students’ innovations, submitting and developing projects, and allowing opportunities for emerging talented students in the field of technological innovation especially in participating in international competitions and fairs. The Directory of Innovation and Scientific Olympiad strives to empower students to learn the basics of innovation. As for participating in literary competitions, the Directory of Students’ Activities oversees the literary competitions such as public speaking and classical Arabic (al-Fuṣḥā) speaking. The Directory oversees the administration of activities, competitions, and workshops that has a literary nature for gifted students in the schools. These school activities have been developed so the school activities specialists can directly oversee the process of screening and identifying students’ talents and planning to get these students involved in the competitions held in the schools. The purpose is to develop, take care, and spot the light on innovative and high-performing students to be nominated on the level of the governorates and MoE to participate in national, regional, and international fairs. The Office of al-Fusha Speaking Project supports talented students who participate in gulf and Arab competitions in the field of public speaking and speaking al-Fusha. Table 2 shows the most distinguished results achieved by school students in literary and scientific competitions from 2017 to 2021. For sports competitions, the Office of School Union supervises the participation of talented students in the physical education competitions.

Table 2. The most distinguished results achieved by school students in literary and scientific competitions from 2017 to 2021 in Oman

Competition	Achievement/Ranking
Public Speaking, al-Fusha Speaking, and Deepening Arabic Grammar, Egypt 2020–2021	First place in the Arabic region in middle school
	Third place in the Arabic region for blind students
	Second place
The Fifth International Competition for School Debates in Arabic Language 2020, Qatar	Second place
Shaikha Fadiaa Al Saad Al Sabah Scientific Competition, Kuwait 2021	First place in middle school
	First place in high school
The International School Gymnasiade, Morocco 2018	Bronze medal in 100 m race
First Global Challenge (Robotics), Mexico 2018	Safety Award
Arab Achievement Competition (Enjaz), Kuwait 2019	FedEx Award and Second Place for the best innovative product
First Arab Math Olympiad, Saudi Arabic, 2018	Bronze Medal
International Fair for Science and Technology, Egypt 2018	First Place in environmental science field and Third place in the Exhibition
	Data Collection Best Award in mechanical engineering field
	The Best Idea Award in the physical energy field
The 12 Arab Competition for Robotics, Kuwait 2019	Second place in ball collector challenge
	Third place in Masirat Kuwait competition
The Youth International Summit, Indonesia 2019	Bronze medal for middle school students
Public Speaking, al-Fusha Speaking, and Deepening Arabic Grammar, Egypt 2019	First place in Public Speaking, al-Fusha Speaking, and Deepening Arabic Grammar
First Robotics Competition, Jordan 2019	Second place on the Arabic region
	First place in innovative solution
	Creative Programming award
Kuwait Ibtikar (innovation) competition, Kuwait 2019	First place in STEAM for high school
	First place in STEAM for middle school
Student Research International Competition for GLOBE Environmental Program, 2017	First place on regional level
	Third place on regional level
Sixth Gulf Mathematics Olympiad, Saudi Arabic, 2017	One silver medal
	Five bronze medals
The Gulf Arabic Language Debates Competition, 2017	First place in GCC countries and the rank of the Arabic Language Debates Poet
	Second place in Public Speaking, al-Fusha Speaking, and Deepening Arabic Grammar
Kuwait Ibtikar (innovation) competition, Kuwait 2018	First place
Student Research International Competition for GLOBE Environmental Program, 2018	First ranking in the world
The First Arab School Gymnasiade, Lebanon 2018	Third place
Arab Robot Competition, Egypt 2018	The first place in the open competition
	The second place in line tracking competition
	Third place in the FILL competition
	Special Judge Award (FILL)
	Special Judge Ball Collection Award
	Sumo Judge Award

In 2019, a randomly selected sample comprising a total of 6814 4th-grade students from public, private, and international schools participated in TIMSS. Also, a randomly selected sample comprising a total of 6751 8th-grade students from public, private, and international schools participated. Table 3 shows a comparison of students’ achievement in TIMSS in 2015 and 2019. The results showed that students’ achievement has increased in 4 governorates in addition to private and international schools as compared to the results of 2015. On the other hand, students’ achievement dropped in 7 governorates. The International Schools had the highest achievement level (483 points) with an increasing rate of 87 points. The lowest decrease in the achievement was in Muscat (42 points). Wusta governorate had the lowest achievement level (331 points). Overall, Omani students’ achievement have increased but this increase wasn’t statistically significant. figure 1 shows the increase in the achievement rates of 10 countries and the decrease in other 10 countries out of a total of 44 participating countries in 2015 and 2019. The achievement of 22 countries, including Oman, remained as in 2015. As shown in Table 4, there was no statistically significant increase in students ‘achievement with a 4-point difference from 2015 cycle, and there was a statistically significant difference with a difference of 58 points from 2011 cycle. figure 2 shows the trend of performance of Oman in the three cycles.

Table 3. A comparison of the TIMSS average achievement of governorates, private, and International Schools in 2015 and 2019

Governorate/Private and International Schools	Average Achievement in 2015	Average Achievement in 2019
Muscat	442	400	↓
North Sharqiyah	410	415	↑
South Sharqiyah	390	357	↓
Dakhiliyah	454	436	↓
Dhahirah	462	452	↓
North Batinah	488	485	↓
South Batinah	429	464	↑
Buraymi	421	404	↓
Musandam	472	438	↓
Dhofar	371	381	↑
Wusta	310	331	↑
Private Schools	399	439	↑
International Schools	396	483	↑

Table 4. Overall performance trend in TIMSS for fourth graders in Oman

Cycle	Achievement Level	Difference in Achievement Level in the Three Cycles
		2011	2015	2019
2019	435	58	4
2015	431	54		− 4
2011	377		− 54	− 58

Figure 1. Overall performance trend in timss for fourth graders in participating countries

Figure 2. The trend of Omani performance in timss three cycles

5. Economic educational capital

The Economic Educational Capital, as an exogenous learning resource, refers to availability of funds, wealth, and valuable physical resources that can be devoted to developing and sustaining educational and learning processes (Ziegler & Baker, 2013). The following presents some information about how gifted education is supported financially and how budgets are allocated to support gifted education activities and available scholarships for talented students (The Directory of Innovation and Scientific Olympiad, 2019).

5.1. First: programs of supporting and consolidating innovation and sciences

Programs related to supporting innovation and sciences are examples of those programs that MoE strives to develop to serve gifted students. Examples of these programs include STEM Oman which is implemented by Rolls Royce in collaboration with the formerly Oman Association for Partnership and Privatization. This program is aligned with the MoE vision to infuse skills related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics among school students. The program aims at developing creative and critical thinking skills, which, in turn, leads to building a generation of students who can participate actively in sustainable development. The Nxplorer program is an education program developed by Shell International company. The program focuses on guiding students to use thinking tools to find practical and innovative solutions in three areas of the sustainable development goals, namely, energy, water, and food. “Future engineers” is also an enrichment program offered to cycle 1 students with a support from BP Oman company within the social responsibility program of the company. In this program, training programs related to innovation are included for young students during school class periods. These programs are implemented through training female teachers and preparing the appropriate work environment. “Intellectual property” programs are organized by the MoE due to the increasing and continuing interest to spread the culture of innovation and develop the national innovation system in the country which considers intellectual property as one of its main pillars. This requires increasing the awareness related to its importance, types, methods of protecting it, and the procedures that should be taken to achieve this through awareness campaigns and training programs for students and teachers with related organizations and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Another program “innovation in cycle 1 schools” is implemented in collaboration with the Research Council and Oman Telecommunications Company with the aim of developing innovation skills for cycle 1 students and consolidating the role of the teacher in building research and innovation skills and caring for the gifted. “Robotics Olympiad” is a robotics competition program implemented by a collaboration of Engineering for Kids Association and BP Oman. This program includes some challenges that can be solved using robots, which aims at stimulating students’ thinking in engineering, mathematics, and programming. The Patent registration request can be presented to obtain patents for students’ innovations in coordination with the Directory of Intellectual Property at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry after obtaining a discount of 90% for school students. The patent is granted if it meets the conditions after the patent request is checked by the concerned authority.

“The Regional Project for Teaching Nuclear Sciences for School Students in Innovative Ways” is a regional project aiming at teaching science and nuclear technology for school students and presenting them in untraditional innovative ways to develop the knowledge and skills in the field of science and nuclear technology as it became widely used in all life aspects. This will certainly serve in several domains such as agriculture, medicine, and industry. The MoE participates in the project in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Oman Programming Olympiad” is a scientific competition with a collaboration between the MoE, Oman Telecommunications Company, and the Programming Academy. The purpose of this Olympiad is to identify and encourage gifted students and attract their attention to the importance of information technology, in addition to shifting the attention to benefit the society in the fields of development and innovation instead of using computer as an entertainment through the gaming software. The “Abilities Development Program’ consists of training programs offered to students and teachers during the school years in the fields of innovations, robotics, artificial intelligence, electronics, renewable energy, and programming. Examples of the completed programs include a) the summer training program “sciences of oil and gas: from exploration to production”, b) SOLAR program, c) the winter program “young students and innovation technologies”, d) renewable energy basics workshop, e) Ordino robotics programming workshop, f) basics of electronics and scientific innovations workshop for school students, g) Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop in scientific Olympiad, and h) national workshop for teaching sciences and peaceful nuclear technology in innovative ways.

5.2. Second: student programs of literary and scientific activities

The MoE serves talented students in the fields of literature, theatre, and arts. The education sector is already full of talented students who require care, attention, and support. It is important to note that learners who are talented in the literary, artistic, and theatrical fields are easy to discover and are taken care of by teachers. They are provided with some programs that aim to develop their talents and refine their skills. The Department of Educational Activities, on the other hand, oversees the participation of students in various competitions in these fields and strives to train them before participation. In this context, we include these competitions and programs:

• Public Speaking, Speech Telling, and Speaking in Classical Arabic Competition: An annual competition carried out by the Arab League in Egypt to be presented in the field of education related to speaking classical Arabic and deepening the study of grammar.

• Arabic Language Skills: An annual periodic competition in Arabic for students coming from countries of the Arabic Education Office of the Gulf States. The competition seeks to deepen loyalty and belonging to the Arabic language, as it is one of the most important tools to promote national identity, discover the early talents and creativity of students of member states, and strengthen links and enhance communication between innovators in Arabic studies at all levels.

• Literary Authorship Competition: An educational competition in the field of creative writing (short story, article, and eloquent poetry).

• Participating in the Marine Environment Competition: Writing articles; the competition is held in Kuwait.

• Participating in the Royal Opera House Competition: includes short story writing.

• Documenting the Creative Works of Talented Students in a Publication Distributed to Schools: “Promising flashes in literature and art”.

• Student Debate Competition: An annual competition aimed at refining students’ talents, increasing their self-confidence, and getting them used to mastering the art of public speaking; in addition to motivating them to read, learn, and research within teams and groups.

• School Theatre Festival: A competition in which theatrical performances from educational provinces compete at the MoE level.

• Participation in the Gulf School Theatre Festival in Bahrain.

• Theatrical Composition Competition: A competition in theatrical composition for students. Creative works are documented at the end in a publication distributed to schools and entitled “Colors from the School Theatre”.

• Tourism Competition—Artistic Creativity: A competition in the field of entertainment which aims at introducing the most important attractions and touristic places; in addition to the efforts exerted by the government in the field of tourism through short films produced by students.

• Best Volunteer Work Competition: A competition presented to the field of education aimed at establishing the culture of volunteerism among students and highlighting its importance in the service of the school and local community.

• School Orchestras: A competition dedicated for students who are talented in playing multiple musical instruments within the school setting. It is aimed at achieving educational goals targeted for gifted learners and enabling them to practice their hobby in a purposeful educational way that refines their personality.

• Traditional Music: An educational competition that will be launched in the field of traditional musical arts with the aim of introducing students to the beautiful popular Omani arts to preserve them, ensure their transmission to future generations, and help spread them globally.

• Individual Play: A national competition in collaboration with the Association of Oud Enthusiasts aiming to refine the talents of students and increase their self-confidence through individual play. This initiative serves the curriculum as the selected pieces for the competition are parts of the music curriculum.

• Effective Cooperation between the Different Departments of the Ministry (mainly those with common objectives).

• Musical Composition: A competition dedicated to innovations in the field of musical composition. The aim of this competition is to deepen a sense of innovation among students and help them become self-reliant through composition or musical expression.

• Singing or Reciting: An educational competition dedicated to acknowledging the human voice and praising talents with the aim of highlighting the importance of this sensory expression of sound in a meaningful and educational way. The competition is yet to be launched.

5.3. Third: sport activity programs

Believing in the importance of caring for talented people in the field of sports, an office was established on behalf of the Omani School Sport Association in 2016 and was transferred to the supervision of the Undersecretary of Education Office in 2021. The Association offers programs and activities that enhance students’ aptitudes and hone their physical skills in the games where they show exceptional talent. Programs include:

• Sports Skills Competition (Talented Player): A remote competition aimed at discovering student talent in all sports. The student shoots a video while he/she is performing a selected sport skill and is evaluated through the video. The student’s performance is then converted into points through which he/she competes with the rest of the participants.

• The Gifted Discovery Program: A sustainable program dedicated to all students and aimed at discovering talented people and supporting them to reach the highest physical levels. Physical measurements and anthropometric (physical abilities) are performed periodically twice a year every school year. It is accompanied by a follow-up on the development of bodies and physical abilities, and then the selection of elite members to undergo accurate scientific measurements intended to place them in clubs and national teams.

The theme generated from the parents’ responses in the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) referred to that, parents’ funding is less than expected and that funding mainly depends on the family economic level and the type of targeted talent. For example, one of the parents of gifted students posited, “A dad spending money on a child’s talent depends on the talent itself and the type of talent. For example, if a kid’s talent is reciting Holy Quran, his dad might spend money to improve that by registering him in centers, but if a kid has a mechanical or electrical talent, this needs a specialized workshop that does not exist here and the parent then knows, but cannot help and spend to improve the talent, or it might be too much”. Also, parents mentioned they mostly depend on schools to fund their talents as one of the parents stated “financial support is basic for talented students. Parents may not spend a lot, but they give support and feedback. They depend on schools and societies mainly to develop these skills. It is basically an entourage issue because the environment does not support. So, parents will not consider investing. It is a cycle”. Administrators/teachers posited that parents’ role in funding and supporting their gifted children is minimal. One of the lead Arabic language teachers said, “sometimes the type of talent is what determines the type of this expenditure. Providing the wood, cutting it, standing on it, and participating in a workshop, may be affordable. However, for example, talents such as designing robots or the invention of artificial intelligence, or virtual lessons or augmented reality, need huge money. The family may not be able, regardless of its ability, ease, and capabilities, it is according to talent, and according to the environment, and according to the state and its capabilities as well”. Another administrator concluded, “From my personal experience at school, it is a very small category. It is through that the parent is keen to make the student participate in activities only. However, at home, we do not see that they make the student participate in exhibitions or other competitions or highlight his role in society, only with regard to school”.

As for the availability of foundations or scholarships for gifted students, the administrators/teachers group mentioned that there are no scholarships available for gifted students and that those opportunities might be only found in higher education institutions. One of the teachers said, “There are no specialized scholarships, perhaps in colleges and universities, but in schools, there are none”. Another administrator (school director) concluded, “It was available previously. They choose two students from grade four boys, to undergo tests until they go to military schools. The scholarship is covered by the school. Also, it was in grade ten. I guess, in grade ten, there was an oil company that conducted tests for the students in grade ten. The distinguished students in English received a scholarship to study for a whole year in America and then return to complete their education”. A school director said, “With regard to universities and colleges, it may be existing, if the student is distinguished in a particular aspect, he/she receives a scholarship also, in our schools, if the student achieved a position. For example, about two years ago, the school achieved the first place at the national level in the ‘Globe Competition’. After that, one student from two of our students went to Jordan to represent the Sultanate, then the Corona pandemic took place. This is achieved through the students’ participation in competitions. However, they do not go by a scholarship but as an incentive out of the competition”.

The gifted student parents’ group reacted in the same way as administrators/teachers. Parents reported that scholarships are scarce, and they mainly serve high-achieving students and neglect other kinds of talents. One of the parents said, “This is the most difficult question to answer. I think scholarships are still very minimal because the scholarships now are given to high-performing students not to the talented ones. There is some care for them, but it is very individualistic”. Another parent highlighted the negligence of other talents saying, “What I see is that the admission program is responsible for that but only educational scholarships, but for example, with art, a student can have full marks but have a weakness in the other subjects and cannot get a scholarship because the admission depends on multiple exceptional abilities.

6. Cultural educational capital

Gifted students are described as “those students who have aptitudes and abilities that are exceptional than their peers, and these aptitudes and abilities are valued by the society in one or more of the following domains: intellectual ability, academic achievement, creative thinking, social leadership, motor ability, literary, and performing arts skills. They need psychological, educational, and educational care required to develop their abilities and uncover their potential talents to be utilized in the school and national levels” (Framework of Caring for the Gifted, 2016).

The MoE’s initiatives to develop gifted and talented education rests on several pillars as follows, a) Article No. 16 from the Basic System of the Sultanate which refers in one of its principles is that the state ensures the freedom of scientific research, encouraging researchers, and caring for researchers. The State shall also ensure the effective involvement of both the public and private sectors in the development of scientific research, freedom of intellectual creativity, caring for innovative individuals, and encouraging the development of arts and literature (The State’s Basic System, 2021), b) Endorsing the goals of Oman Vision 2040 within the current educational plan through empowering and securing the needs of gifted individuals, framing the plans and programs, and developing tools and assessments for their identification (Oman’s Vision 2040, 2020), and c) The philosophy of education in Oman is considered the driving force of different educational systems as it is built on some principles such as the integrated development of Omani learners, refining and supporting life skills, endorsing good values and manners, high quality education, technology and literacy society, scientific research and innovation, entrepreneurship and initiatives, and education for sustainable development. All these principles have shaped the reality of the current and future vision in caring for the gifted and taking into consideration that these gifted individuals are the winning investment in the era of knowledge economy (Omani Education Council, 2017).

Several steps were taken by the MoE to develop the field of giftedness in schools. The administrative procedures included the restructuring of administrative units in the ministry and reallocating their duties (Ministerial Decree No. 98, 2021). One of these administrative units included issues related to diagnosing and caring for gifted students in the schools according to the aspirations in the State’s Basic System, Philosophy of Education, and Oman’s Vision 2040. This restructuring yielded some outcomes such as raising the administrative level of the department of diagnosing the gifted into a directory level called the “Directory of Diagnosis and Caring for the Gifted” which consists of two departments; a department related to diagnosis and another for caring and educating the gifted. The directory has been assigned specific duties and responsibilities that follow the General Directory of Special Education and Continuing Education. The role and responsibilities of the Directory of Students’ Activities moved from the general Directory of Special Education and Continuing Education to the Center of Career Guidance and Student Counseling. Also, the Directory of Innovation and Scientific Olympiad moved from center for Measurement and Educational Evaluation to the Office of Undersecretary of Education and establishing the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence department to be the third in addition to the departments of Scientific Innovation and Scientific Olympiad. The Omani Association of School Sports changed to the level of a directory under the supervision of the Undersecretary of Education. The responsibilities of Office of the Fusha and Arabic Language Speaking Program, dedicated to supporting gifted students in the language domain, moved to the Specialized Institute for Teachers’ Professional Training.

In 2021, a Ministerial Decree No. 118, 2021) was initiated to form a committee to prepare a national program of identifying and educating gifted in schools. Several associations participate in this committee, namely, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research, and Innovation, Sultan Qaboos University, University of Nizwa, and Industrial Innovation Center. This project aims at developing an integrated program for the gifted in Oman. In the meantime, there is an ongoing work related to the draft of the national strategy for identification and education of the gifted in school in the light of Oman Vision 2040. The development of this strategy is based on previous efforts done by the MoE including, a) program for identification and caring for the gifted in all the schools of the country, b) document for identification and caring for gifted students, c) the action plan stemming from the document of identification and caring for gifted students that focused on studying the related terminologies with the concept of giftedness and making use of the American experiences in the field of educating gifted students. Several programs have been implemented as an initial stage that involved five schools from cycle 1 and cycle 2 in Muscat governorate that had the Innovation Incubators in which the Evaluation of Potential Creativity (EPoC) battery was administered to assess students’ creativity in 2017/2018 school year. Students identified using the EPoC were placed in the Innovation Incubators program in 2018/2019 school year (The Arabic Center for Educational Research in the GCC Countries, 2022), and d) project of preparing national cadres in the field of creativity and giftedness which targeted training a group of 30 teachers, educational specialists, supervisors, and school principals on using the EPoC who, in turn, trained groups of Omani trainees in the field of giftedness and creativity assessment. This project was supervised and implemented by the National Committee of Omani Youth.

There are several current procedures to support giftedness in schools. Examples include students’ participation in competitions, programs, and exhibitions implemented in the directory or ministry/other institutions. Currently, there is no clear policy for identification and education of gifted students in the schools. Students are assigned to the activities according to their personal preferences and interests. Current diagnostic procedures depend on a) teacher nomination of some specific talents that are explicit and those students are directed to participate in programs and competitions that are implemented on the school/governorate/country level, b) students’ preferences, aptitudes, and attitudes to participate in specific programs or competitions, and c) parents’ efforts of encouraging and taking care of their children’s gifts and helping them register in competitions and programs implemented by the MoE. In the meantime, there is an ongoing intensive training program supported by the private sector related to preparing a guide of practical activities for the gifted divided into four stages, namely, curricula analysis, developing guides, framing or enrichment programs, and evaluating the effect of implementing enrichment programs on students to detect challenges/issues. The first three stages have been already implemented and stage 4 will be in January 2022. This program targeted 55 individuals who are responsible for caring for the gifted in different sectors in the MoE and educational governorates.

Several training workshops in the field of educating gifted students were implemented such as a training program related to developing android applications for gifted students, a workshop for training gifted students with disabilities on innovative skills, and a training program related to develop higher level and critical thinking skills for gifted students in grades 10 and 11. The MoE participated in the International Conference of Excellence, Gifted Education, Creativity and Innovation in Schools and Higher Education, June 2021 and presented a paper around the 21st century skills, the career preferences, and productive citizenship of gifted students participating in innovation incubators. The MoE celebrates the Gulf Day of Giftedness and Creativity on the second of March every year. In 2021, the Day included a seminar about creativity and giftedness fields and programs. During the celebration, a student’s exhibition was conducted in which students presented projects and innovative initiatives from all the Sultanate’s governorates with some centers related to scientific fields.

Regarding how talented students are perceived by their peers, gifted students generally view that their peers were mostly supportive with some few exceptions that turn competition into conflict. For example, one gifted student said, “Of course, not all people are equal, some push and support and work hard on their talent and give off positive energy to keep going and then there are envious people who want to see others failing and wish the worst to them so not all classmates are equal, it is bound to have positives and negatives”. Another gifted student mentioned, “They get encouraged to improve their abilities and if they need help, they inquire from us”. A third gifted student posited “My peers are supportive, and they helped me a lot. They made me reach a high level and we are here challenging each other. They made me want to improve. Peer support is very essential for us. It is a good competition, and it is not envious”.

Answering the question about “What is the definition of giftedness?”, administrators and teachers viewed that giftedness is an exceptional ability through which the individual can make a significant difference or change in his/her career/field. For example, an assistant principal says, “The basic definition of talent is one of the faculties of the mind that exist in the human body, and a person can innovate in it in a specific field, whether it is visual, mental, or kinesthetic, or sensory according to a person’s ability to perform this movement, which God gave him/her in any form, whether it was acquired or not so. It stems from the person himself/herself”. A music teacher defines gifted as “Talent is about characteristics and features, and they can also be features that exist in the individual so that these characteristics qualify this individual to accomplish particular tasks or particular skills, and these skills are distinct from the rest of the individuals, and these characteristics or skills are in several fields, including painting, music, recitation, poetry, and other fields”. A school principal defined giftedness as” it is an exceptional energy, readiness, or certain skills that distinguish a person from other individuals, it may be innate or sometimes acquired. The circumstances that surround a person prepare him to be talented in a particular aspect. These aspects can be academic, artistic, arithmetic, or other artistic skills that a person can acquire”.

Also, parents of gifted students stated that giftedness is considered an exceptional talent that helps the student to be distinguished in the future. For example, one parent reported, “abilities and knowledge of an individual and what they learn to do and could focus on do in the future. They could go on with it, their abilities can let them exceed in this talent”. Another parent posited “The basic definition of talent is “an exceptional talent for people who can perform distinguished and outstanding tasks at any given situation in less time and more effectively than others.”

For the beliefs that people have about gifted individuals in society, the participants viewed that giftedness is valued and appreciated, however some talents are more favored than others. For example, a school principal reported, “He /she does not have to be talented in music or drawing. The leadership that we demand is this talent that we need in our schools, the talent of influential leadership for our students, so I see the talent is the uniqueness of the student or the uniqueness of the individual in something that distinguishes him from others. The one who has more social intelligence than others have a high achievement from this student as well as the talented. We just deal with the conventional definition of talent, although talent has a great research definition according to the specialization/area, we want schools to classify talent and define it according to the talents we need in society”. Also, as a school activities supervisor mentioned, “Talents are multiple. I am in an elementary school. We have many talents, but in society, there is a light shed on some talents while they ignored the others like recitation. We are suffering from this because we have talents, but no programs for them. Society ignores some talents like painting or handcrafts”.

As for the talents valued by society, the administrators/teachers agreed that the ongoing circumstances imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have slightly shaped how giftedness is valued, but still technology has an important role here. For example, a lead Arabic language teacher says, “The talents that exist now are common talents all over the world. Previously, the focus was on linguistic talents and physical talents related to sports and record breaking in a specific performance or specific linguistic performance in the field of rhetoric, as our teacher mentioned. However, now with the existence of the virtual world and with the exceptional circumstances imposed by Covid-19, there are many types of talent: in design, artistic and cinematic direction, and highlighting other existing artistic aspects”. A school principal reported, “Of course, scientific talent means innovation, right or not. Of course, we focus on it. Examples include creativity in developing robots. This is what we are now. The society is being praised. The society needs it. As for this talent for drawing, music and singing, yes, it must be developed, but we now have the vision of Oman, which we agree with. We need the vision that we need to develop our students in and focus on our activities, work, and efforts and direct them to the scientific direction from my point of view”. A school principal reported, “For the talents in society, from my perspective, some talents have become global, true, but from my perspective, I see for every society, even in the Omani society, each of the governorates may be characterized by an aspect of talents which is different than other governorates. However, in general, governmental, or private institutions focus on scientific aspects, especially in scientific and academic institutions. Also, other institutions focus on the craft aspects, and sometimes focus on talents such as global talents, which are scientific innovations and the robots’ industry, as the sisters said. Therefore, I see that every society and every governorate in the Sultanate of Oman may be characterized by different talents, and here comes the role of the institutions located in that governorate or in that community”.

As for how parents view the talents appreciated and valued by society, the theme generated from the parents of gifted students focused on talents such as public speaking and mastery of language skills. One parent reported, “Talents that we see or hear, like public speaking, even though some talents are not visible like memorizing, smartness, and planning. The bigger focus is on what we see, like public speaking, art, and handwriting”. Another parent says, “In schools, mostly they care about scientific and literary talents because teachers are involved, and they have like clubs. As for society, it is mainly done by youths themselves like for example, in sports there are academies that they join to develop their talents. Overall, gifted, and talented support in the country is only individualistic and there is no national plan”. A third parent posits, “Talents are important in a student’s life, especially in learning, whether it’s poem reciting, public speaking and so on these have advantages in the student’s life especially since they aren’t talents just for fun. I consider public speaking and poem reciting more educational and less entertaining as opposed to art, music, or maybe singing”.

For the question regarding how talent is developed inside or outside the school, administrators/teachers highlighted the important role of the school in developing students’ talents. For example, a lead Arabic teacher mentioned, “The teacher engages with the parents in discovering the talent, nurturing it, developing it, satisfying its curiosity, and giving an activity that satisfies this talent for this student. The school administration is represented, but not only the administration, because also in our directorates, the ministry as a legislator whose role is to create an attractive environment for the talented starting from the curricula through the strategies, providing attractive environments focusing on activities, sending the talented to external and internal scholarships, and facilitating the participation in the international, local, and societal levels. The teacher also mentioned now that supporting local institutions in the same place also has a role in this development and must have a fingerprint and a helping hand for those talented people”. Another administrator said, “I see school administrations have a big role, frankly, in this matter. The school administration is the basis of the process of motivating students towards developing their skills. I mean, we see them have a big role in some administrations that encourage you. Unfortunately, in some administrations, they frustrate the student, and in some administrations, God willing, they motivate and encourage entire students”.

Parents focused on the role of community and support and that there are no systematic plans inside or outside the school to nurture students’ talents. One of the parents said, “I think what controls the talent is what is present in the community, for example, the poem citation has competitions because people like it and enjoy it. If you have encouragement, you will be involved and grow, it depends on what is important, we are in a technological era, so they all compete in that area as well as political views and rules, lots of people thrive when the talent is needed and present as competitions make more talents appear and improve. But if no one cares and encourages and gives the person power, then it will not grow. Muslim scientists thrived when the world needed that and could help them grow even with astrological, financial, and many more studies. Scientists in opposite parts of the world were discovering the same things at the same time because they cared, and the world allowed it”. Another parent highlighted the scarcity of resources and professionals saying, “Improving talents during school can happen when there are competitions, for example, a student talented in drawing, you can organize an event that shows the drawings but that is with the presence of a professional staff and unfortunately, they now give the responsibility to someone who isn’t a professional as if to just fill a void so you don’t find who can grow and nurture the talent. Sometimes you can find one or two parents that care and push their kids because they are educated about it. But, a lot of students have talents and they are not recognized or identified because there is no care from the community, and may be if it’s there, it is not appreciated and might go away. I heard about an Omani girl that was talented in artificial intelligence, but she studied in Japan because her talent wasn’t appreciated in her country. She was given the chance to work after studying in a different area, and then Spain took her in and now, she’s working there, and Spain is benefiting from her ability while she gets money for her and her family, but Spain is the one that benefited in the end”.

7. Social educational capital

There is no doubt that caring for talented students and addressing their needs is a large field in which many educational, research, and youth institutions are involved, either in terms of adopting initiatives or carrying out scientific and educational studies in this field. There are joint efforts and continuous cooperation between the Ministry of Education from one side and several entities including Sultan Qaboos University, Engineering Village, Scientific College of Design, Scientific Club, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, Shura Council, Omani Astronomical Society, Bridge Foundation, charity, and Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. Some examples can be given to illustrate the cooperation between the MoE and some institutions in the field of developing student talent in schools as follows:

• Sultan Qaboos University: The University plays an active role in spreading the culture of innovation and interest in talented and innovative people through the development of the Department of Innovation and Creativity at the University, which works with the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group by establishing various activities, events and competitions, and supporting topics related to innovation and connecting it to industrial application, which in turn was entrusted to graduate university cadres aware of future work (Al-Mashenia, 2020). In addition, the university played a key role in a project that adopts the legalization and preparation of several standards and tests aimed at identifying talented people in schools (Gifted Care, 2020).

• Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation represented by the Scientific Research and Innovation Sector (formerly the Research Council) Talent Discovery Project: The project was implemented in its first phase in 2015 with the implementation of tests and tools for the identification of talented people in five provinces in Oman: Muscat, North Batinah, South Batinah, Dhofar, and Al Dhahera. It included these tools: non-verbal intelligence testing, creativity test, mathematics abilities test, behavioral and emotional diagnostic test, and teacher rating scale for talent. The project also included the implementation of an enrichment program called “Animal Kingdom”. The 16 lessons covered creative thinking and problem-solving skills. It was implemented in one high school in Muscat province for the academic year (2017/2018) and it was the first of its kind in Oman for talented students.

• The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth is represented in the youth sector (formerly the National Youth Committee): The Ministry pays special attention to talented groups by providing many programs that help bodies and institutions develop their educational staff and students in the creative field. In 2016, the committee launched a project to prepare national cadres in the field of talent creativity, which aimed to train a group of 30 teachers, educational specialists, supervisors, and school principals to measure latent creativity using EPOC (Al Watan Newspaper, 2017). The committee was also keen to organize lectures on the care of talented people and the implementation of 21st century skills in October 2016 as it is a requirement for the contemporary knowledge economy (Al Shabiba Newspape, 2016). Among the committee’s contributions was the launch of the “Youth Creative Camp” project, which aimed to develop the abilities of Omani youth and help them discover their talents and creative skills in various fields. The project was implemented over the course of five days from 16 to 20 June 2019. Youth participants reached 32, with 28 training workshops, including 12 trainers in the fields of intellectual property and patents, future technology and the basics of theatrical work, strategic mind building, and workshops to discover talents, plan, innovative thinking, and other workshops that serve contemporary Sustainable Development Goals (National Youth Committee, 2019). Further, the “Technical Youth Camps” project, which aims to employ artificial intelligence technologies was implemented.

• Oman Oil Development Company (PDO). An award on behalf of the company and in cooperation with the MoE was created. It is a scientific award organized jointly between the Oman Oil Development Company and the MoE to promote aspects of innovation and scientific research to find solutions to energy-related issues. The award is divided into two areas of innovative scientific models in the fields of renewable energy and smart applications in the field of energy conservation and management and the use of water associated with oil production processes as well as sewage.

• Sultan Qaboos Higher Center for Culture and Science: Implementation of the Water Research and Innovation Award (Emerging Innovator Category), in collaboration between the Ministry and the Scientific Research Council, aiming to enhance the role of scientific research and innovation in finding solutions to water issues and raising awareness of water resource management areas.

• Omantel: Omantel Programming Olympics is a program for students of Oman’s public and private schools to discover and encourage those who have skills and intellectual abilities essential to logical thinking of programming. The Olympics target students and draw their attention to the importance of information technology nowadays, and what we are witnessing in terms of techniques of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, by training them in programs related to programming language such as C++; to prepare a generation of students who are involved in programming, and to qualify national student teams capable of competing in programming Olympics regionally and globally.

• Al-Jisr Foundation: Al-Jisr, an Omani charity organization, has provided full financial support to the training program and enrichment activities of talented students. The project is concerned with providing enrichment activities to talented students who should be very carefully encouraged, especially, for their ability to promote society in various cultural, sports, and economic fields. The program is implemented with the International Center for Innovative Education (ICIE), which runs from June 2021 to April 2022.

As for the question related to which persons are involved in the promotion of gifted children, the administrators/teachers posited that the shared role of the family and the school is very important in nurturing gifted students. However, they stressed the insufficient funds and support available in the meantime. A lead teacher mentioned, “The role of the family in talent: I think it is a detailed role. I usually resort to the family in terms of imposing duty. However, in talent, the mother’s efforts, and the father’s efforts, and the efforts of the small family like the brothers and sisters, must come together. Talented students like to be taken care of, the performance of the talented is a focus of attention, and free time is the focus of attention. Then we move to the school, starting from its hierarchy to the activities supervisor, to the teachers, to the peers, to supporting institutions in the local community, to the ministry, and to even other supporting ministries. Also, I do not mean only the Ministry of Education, the government, led by the basic legislator, must create environments that develop the capabilities and performance of this category”. A school principal said, “Everyone has a role, starting with the family, and sometimes the family is the first base for discovering talent, and in cooperation with the school, talent development begins, then community institutions gradually develop talent. It is necessary to create environments that help in the development of talents in all governorates, the governorate might be somewhat poor for such environments, I mean that the parents’ dependence may be on the school. As you can see in other governorates such as Muscat and Al Batinah, these governorates have great support. From my experience as a school principal with students, when the student is talented in the aspect of innovation when he goes to Muscat to compete, he does not achieve positions except in certain aspects. Why? The student in Muscat and other governorates is surprised that the size of the innovation that he presented and is satisfied with, he sees that the one in Muscat is more superior than him, even regarding robots, and because of this point there is unwillingness among the students. Also, you, yourself live the experience. The problem we have is that we need support, not only from the Ministry, because the Ministry, has several aspects to focus on. There are students in other areas in the governorate, who need those innovative centers that develop those talents. The best support we need now is the support of other institutions”.

Parents of gifted students also referred to the shared responsibility of the family and the school in nurturing their children’s talents. One parent reported, “The responsibility is not all on one, as parents, teachers at the school, it’s on the community as a whole. It starts with the talented person himself and moves on to the family, school, and the surrounding environment. As long as an individual receives encouragement from all the above, he will thrive”. Another parent said, “It’s something completely on the whole community, Omani people thrived with poetry because the community cared about that and as my colleague said, fishing and planting all those thrived because the community figured out how to do it and cared enough about them. When Oman put attention and care on planting, a person could tell what the palm tree is, what its product is, and what type the product is but because it was not fixed knowledge the youth recently don’t know anything, not even how to properly water such trees. Now a person takes pictures and asks questions, a person doesn’t even know how to care or plant the palm tree. This information is important. Now, you know caring about the palm trees has rules such as “don’t harvest until its fully dry, don’t cut it when it green, and flip the branch sideways so that when it rains it isn’t flooded and ruined. This information is important and was discovered with time so we have to embrace and keep it, we can’t only care about other things and ignore about the stuff that matters because that then gets us to lose all the information that is beneficial to us”.

For the question related to whether more staff/cadres are needed for the promotion of gifted students, the administrators/teachers mentioned that there is an unmet need for more trained staff and cadres in the field of giftedness. The issue they raised is that the activities specialist, the person in schools who is responsible for or taking care of gifted and talented students, might not be well prepared to uphold this responsibility. A social worker mentioned, “Certainly, talent needs specialized people, because now if I discovered a talent as a social worker and activities’ specialist discovered a talent, we resort more to books and websites to teach the student how to develop this talent according to a curriculum, because there are talents that need education and curriculum to be taught to students to develop their abilities in these talents”. A teacher said, “There is an absence of talents, and we only see that in school. We do not have specific organizations. If he made effort and worked on his skill, he would grow. There is no holistic approach. We can find support for them only if the talented himself approached the organizations and he joined such organizations. We want a dedicated entity to support the talented child even after he/she leaves the school”.

Parents also referred to the shortage of qualified staff. One parent reported, “We have a shortage of dedicated staff. In school, there are only teachers who are requested to check for talents or in clubs, people are not specialized, and they have secondary roles. Therefore, we need specialization because it is the best way to develop talents. We need people who are trained and have certificates”. Another parent highlights the scarcity of professionals catering for gifted students’ needs, “I speak as a school principal, it is very hard to be able to get professionals for talents at the schools because a talent differs from one person to another and I find it very hard to be able to provide a professional for each talent, maybe you can discover the talent at school but we need supporting centers in our community that help grow and improve these talents that are nurtured somewhere else”.

As for the question related to whether there are advocacy groups like parents’ associations, parents reported that no groups are available in the meantime. One parent reported, “in Oman, our experiences are still very preliminary, unlike other countries who have been way before us. Other GCC countries have done more than us. They have specialized staff and entities to support talented students. Here, we have people or groups that support gifted and display their projects; but we need government support. As we can see developed countries and those fast developing are doing a lot of efforts to support gifted people. Even some countries recruit talented people from other countries”. The administrators/teachers’ group had the view. A lead Arabic teacher posited, “As an official independent body concerned with the care of the gifted, it does not exist yet, unfortunately. There are existing attempts, for example, in clubs, and in competitions for cultural creativity and youth creativity, which are repeated every year. There is also something going on in the current plan of the Ministry of Culture and Youth. However, we also need an independent body concerned with planning, designing, and implementing these innovative ideas and projects”.

8. Infrastructure educational capital

8.1. Sports infrastructure provided by the ministry to talented people

The existence of a basic structure for the qualification of talented training specialists as well as the talented themselves is an important requirement. We believe that creating the right place for talented people and providing them with an environment suitable for developing their skills is one of the basic requirements for the success of any program to care for the talented. Currently, we have noticed a lack of suitable programs for talented students; however, there are some efforts in this field, such as:

• The Establishment of Scientific Robotics Centers in All Provinces of Oman: These centers dedicated for talented and innovative school students to identify their talent and hone their skills to ensure future support for the national economy. The idea of these centers revolves around providing an environment conducive to innovation and encouraging students to learn how to build and develop robots and employ them to find solutions that serve the service issues of Omani society, in addition to the ability of these centers to provide the industrial and economic sector with ideas and trackers supporting the national economy in the future as a source of diversifying the national income. Each center compromises of several different halls that vary in content such as innovation hall, innovation workshops, electronics, projects, etc., and programming hall and robot, and are equipped with computers that allow a collective training system for programming, installing, and developing robots. The Emerging Innovator Hall (6–11 years old), the Nano Lab Hall, the Space Hall and Aviation Technology (Ministry of Education, 2020).

  • Activating Scientific Clubs in Schools: It can be achieved by conducting scientific competitions aimed at stimulating the innovative skills of students in areas such as robotics, renewable energy, technology, and programming, and preparing them for local and international participations.

  • Scientific Exhibitions: The annual innovation exhibitions, the National Science Week and the Oman Science Festival are essential for highlighting and promoting talented people as well as honing their skills by informing them of the experiences of others. This can be explained as follows:

1. Scientific Innovations Exhibition: An annual scientific forum in which scientific innovations from different provinces compete. Its idea is based on providing a scientific innovation based on the methodology of scientific research in one of the fields of science and engineering with a specific tool that contributed to confirm or reject hypotheses. The competition targets students from the age of 10 to 15 (i.e., students in grades 5 to 10). The evaluation is carried out through stages from schools to the provincial level and eventually to be evaluated at the level of Oman.

2. Oman Science Festival: The Oman Science Festival is a scientific demonstration targeting all groups of society, where science is presented in all its branches in an interactive and untraditional way. The festival aims to contribute to creating a positive trend towards these sciences and encouraging young people to continue learning in scientific disciplines, as well as enhancing their creativity and innovation skills to be contributors to the knowledge economy. Various government and private institutions participate in the festival with the support of the private sector. The festival is held biennially, and the events are supervised by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with various service and military sectors. The aim is to spread the culture of technical innovation and opportunities in various fields, through which the various innovations of talented students participating in the exhibition are presented. This festival was held over the course of two years 2018/2019–2019/2020 for a full week.

3. National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Week: It is a national scientific initiative based on simplifying science and raising awareness of technology and innovation. It is a platform to motivate and support teachers and students, who are interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and the public to implement a range of events and activities in all fields of science. The event contributes to the involvement of individuals, public, and private sector institutions to carry out events in various provinces of Oman. The events of the National Science Week are carried out annually during the second week of March, in different locations in each province: schools, public and private colleges and universities, parks, commercial centers, sports complexes and other places proposed by the organizing committee in each province. The main committee of the MoE develops the general framework for the national week and the topics to be addressed and remains flexible with provinces to decide their activities and to identify and implement events in coordination with the various sectors concerned and under the supervision of the main committee of the Ministry. The first edition of The National Science Week was held on March 10–14, 2019, and was entitled “The Fourth Industrial Revolution … Technologies Without Borders”. The second edition was held from March 8–12, 2020, and addressed the theme “Our Sustainable Environment”.

   • Special Classes: Using Innovation Incubator Programs, which is one of the innovation programs underlying Oman’s national innovation strategy. The educational innovation program is based on teaching the concepts of learning innovation and is implemented in some schools. The program aims to empower students and empower them with research and innovative skills. It targets cycle-two students (grades 5–10), in addition to teachers as supervising the implementation of the project plan.

Also, the central training of the national scientific Olympics: it is considered one of the scientific camps implemented by the Department of Innovation and Scientific Olympics. The camps target 120 students annually. Qualifying students are trained in higher-order thinking skills and questions of regional and global scientific Olympics. A filter test is carried out on the last day of training to choose the top 10 students who will be honored at the MoE level at the Cognitive Development Program ceremony. The 10 selected contestants will also be honored at the MoE level in the Cognitive Development Program ceremony. They will join camps that precede participation in regional or international scientific Olympics.

• Specialized Institute for Vocational Training for Teachers: A training program aiming to prepare a national team for the application of the “EPOC creativity battery” has been implemented, in addition to a training program aiming to prepare experts specialized in the preparation of enrichment activities (the guide program for the activities of talented people).

• The Office of the Classical Arabic Speaking Project: it is one of the programs adopted by the Ministry of Education in Oman. It is based on the theory of teaching Arabic by nature and practice based on the practical application of Arabic grammar and its expressive characteristics in the daily, literary, and scientific social fields by giving a range of themes allowing trainees to eventually become able of producing a different version of Arabic.

As for the question of whether there are infrastructures that gifted students can use, parents reported that no facilities/entities catering for the gifted are available. One of the parents reported, “Unfortunately, even the systems and individuals available to help kids have changed and are not helping as much, carpentry and electrical classes were used to improve those with small interests and talents towards that, but they don’t exist anymore, even the school curriculum is lacking”. Another parent said, “There are no professional places for the talented and a lot of talents were neglected like astrology and the weather forecast even though lots of people are talented in that area”. The parents voiced the needs to have centers that serve gifted and talented students.

Administrators/teachers also posited that there is a need for an infrastructure for gifted students to use. For example, one the principals said, “The infrastructure in Oman is not present. We do not have centers caring about the talented and only schools do that and some parents rarely”. Another principle opposed this saying,“We cannot make a generalization. We do care about some talents like literary and scientific as opposed to sports and music. In general, we are looking forward to what is better for our children. Our Omani professionals are now entitled to develop the skills of talents learners”.

9. Didactic educational capital

Some of the questions related to this element are already covered in the “Infrastructural Educational Capital”. For the question related to whether there are special curricula for gifted students, the themes obtained from the focus group discussions will be used to answer it.

The administrators/teachers mentioned that there are no specific curricula for gifted students except for some talents in sports, arts, and literature. One teacher reported, “We deal with talented students by just giving them extra work, but other places have schools for them. Not all students are at the same level”. A lead teacher mentioned, “ Curriculum of individual skills, even from their name, are artistic talents. Moreover, we may also notice them individually and personally and through personal diligence of teachers in mathematics and in the Arabic language while even teaching literary texts, writing them, delivering them, solving some problems. Those talents may be observed in the classroom situation”. A school principal stated, “We have individual skills curricula. However, currently in the scientific and international curricula or series, they may focus somewhat on the scientific aspect, which is the aspect of investigation and discovery. Here, science, mathematics, and English language teachers discover students because they are the ones who have been updated according to the Cambridge curriculum series used in the country. Also, here, there may be an aspect that does not focus on the gifted somewhat, while it focuses on teaching the student scientific research, investigation, and discovery, but through it, the student’s role can emerge in this aspect. But as curricula or an aspect dedicated to a talented person, there is none, even the individual skills curricula themselves are taught for all, and the teacher may discover the talent of a student, but there are no independent curricula for gifted”. Another teacher suggested having after-school programs but there are no available staff, “If we could take students, we would. But another idea is that they can stay in the school and after school like summer, for example, we could do a learning program for them. I believe having a summer program for the talented students is a good idea and could work. For example, if they are good at art, we could do a two-month summer program for art. This way when the new school year starts the student would not have missed out on past studies. But I don’t know how to decide the teacher who should teach those programs”.

Parents also agreed that there should be special curricula for the gifted. One parent mentioned, “Yes, of course, there has to be a certain curriculum, because when a student uses one curriculum or focuses on one talent, they feel like it’s their future, especially nowadays because beforehand talents were almost buried away”. Another confirmed, “It’s very important that we provide certain curricula, so they exist for the students. I hope the other parents participate and answer the next question”.

10. Organismic learning capital

Parents emphasized the important role of nurturing gifted students and taking care of their health and well-being. One parent mentioned, “in our culture, the general issue of sports and nutrition is missing in our societies, and in Oman very little are those who care about their nutrition and health. He could be the one interested in doing sports or eating healthy; however, families are only concerned with the educational side. He should have a high-grade point average and high marks according to parents. When it comes to psychological support, it comes to the father and how interested in the issue is he”. Another parent reported, “It is about the parent’s culture and what they think that is important. Mostly, they care about marks and their achievement rather than their talents. If his child is doing some computer work, the parent will think that his son is not studying and wasting time, this is our culture. The same applies to nutrition, we do not have a special nutrition for them. Now, there are some parents who are involving their children in a camp or online training to support the gifted in all the aspects. It is about the parent, maybe he cannot spend because it is demanding financially, and some do spend”.

The administrators/teachers agreed that parents nowadays have become more aware of their children’s diet and sleeping habits. A lead Arabic language teacher mentioned, “I think that this is a family duty. The father is concerned with providing a healthy meal, following up on his physical fitness, following up on his recovery if he needs, till healthy sleep habits. Any father, regardless of whether the student has a talent or does not have a talent. However, the issue is more accurate as we see in other countries, the talented student needs a family system that is similar to the strict security system because in the end, it is a future investment project, but the issues mentioned in your question hardly exceed family duties provided by the guardian, whether the student is talented or not talented”. A social worker said, “Through our observation in the school, parents have different groups. There are ones who are really concerned. We do not say that they are concerned in the health aspect because of talent only, but they are concerned in the health aspect, perhaps to refine talent, progress in the educational level, increase the immunity of their children, or maintain general health”. Another teacher confirmed, “They would care about those things. I know families that have specific programs for their kids to be able to use their time wisely for their talents. Talented kids have big opportunities”. An activities specialist posited, “Some parents are interested, and they link it to healthy lifestyle. Some parents improve their children’s learning through improving their children’s academic performance through their talents. Others do not have”.

11. Telic learning capital

The Educational and Learning Capital allows domain specific and cross-domain analyses as well (Reutlinger et al., 2020). The National Center for Professional Guidance and Student Counseling, specifically the Department of Professional Guidance, aims at guiding student talents towards the right direction. Some of their efforts include:

• The participation of members of the Center for Professional Guidance and Student Counseling in the program of preparing national cadres in the field of talent and creativity, which targeted all national cadres in the field of talent and creativity from all government institutions.

• The orientation program for the professional guidance specialist in the target schools was implemented in cooperation with the Ministry’s Skilled Identification Department, which targeted the professional guidance specialist in targeted schools and applied to the talent scale.

• Holding orientation meetings with the professional guidance specialists in the targeted schools and the Skills Identification Department and those who are associated with the implementation of the program in the target schools to clarify the roles assigned to each side, which results in the development of the knowledge, skills, and professional knowledge talented students.

• Implementation of a workshop on professional standards in cooperation with the Department of Assessing and Monitoring Personal Tendencies at a former center to clarify the mechanism of applying the professional orientation scale (9–12) and the Gulf Professional Orientation Scale.

• Applying the Professional and Gulf Orientation Scale to 40 talented students whose abilities have been diagnosed and tested using local and international diagnostic tests from targeted schools implementing the talent scale.

• Help talented people assess their professional readiness and learn about their strengths and weaknesses (using scales). Further, work on personal alignment with the profession to help talented people choose the right profession and expand their talents on new trends in the labor market.

• Collaborate with higher education to train talented students on campus per specialization and college in all seminars in line with international programs in this field.

Administrators/teachers had some positive views regarding the role that the development of talents play in the students’ motivational system. For example, a school principal mentioned, “The teachers that everyone has a role, starting with the family, and sometimes the family is the first base for discovering talent, and in cooperation with the school, talent development begins, then community institutions gradually develop talent. It is necessary to create environments that help in the development of talents in all governorates, and that the governorate might be somewhat poor for such environments, I mean that the parents’ dependence may be on the school. Another music teacher posited, “Surely, these people are largely responsible for developing the student’s talent, of course, we start with the parents, because sometimes the parent, for example, discovers his son’s talent before he joins the school. He already knows that his son has talent, and if he joins the school, he tries to tell the teachers about his son’s talent, and the teachers take care of him. However, if the parent fails in this aspect, the teachers can be the other support for the student in developing his talent, they are the existing supervisors or mentors”. A social worker mentioned, “Certainly, talent needs specialized people, because now if I discovered a talent as a social worker and activities’ specialist discovered a talent, we resort more to books and websites to teach the student how to develop this talent according to a curriculum, because there are talents that need education and need a curriculum to be taught to students to develop their abilities in this talent that he distinguished by those form others”.

Gifted students reported they do value learning, however, they said that other talents are not necessarily related to high achievement in school. One gifted female student posited, “We need a high academic achievement because we need to support our knowledge with evidence. Also, if we were working on programming, then we also need knowledge. Further, for calligraphy, we are continuously improving it at school and in the Arabic classes”. Another gifted female student mentioned, “For programming, I don’t think it is related to academic achievement because what I have learned is from Google and it was very efficient”. A third gifted male student said, “Sometimes, we don’t need academic achievement. However, we can relate programming to Math and the better you are in math, the more this will help you. But you don’t need to be a high academic achiever. Sometimes, you use 10% of the math in programming”.

Gifted students reported that that meeting with friends is advantageous for their learning. One gifted male student reported, “Our classmates look at us in a way where they want to learn from us because of our abilities, they learn and inquire from us”. Another gifted female student mentioned, “Our classmates try to get to know us, get closer to us and learn from our abilities”. A third gifted female student said, “They get encouraged to improve their abilities and if they need help, they inquire from us”. As for the question related to the importance of their career to them, they reported that their gifts can contribute to securing a good career. One gifted female student said, “I see that Oman lacks jobs so a person could benefit from their talent if the certificate/major wasn’t useful, or they could improve the talent and use it for work”. When asked about their concerns related to profession, one of the gifted students reported, “Through using their talent in a professional life that gives them financial benefits and we can say that happens most with graduates as it happens after you graduate and work or look for a job. But for us as students before graduating, we can use our talents and hone them so that when we graduate, we have an idea to open personal projects/businesses”.

12. Episodical learning capital

When gifted students are asked whether they are more interested in learning than others, one of the gifted female students said, “The talented are always more known and have more experience because they gain more abilities from their talent, so they always have more abilities or more smartness than someone who doesn’t grow their talent”. Gifted students stressed the importance and value of school in their life. A gifted female student mentioned, “School is the start of any student’s social and scientific life. It’s considered a second house after your family in general, where activities come from. School is very important in a student’s life”. Another student reported, “Our presence here is a proof of how important school is, it adds to us in so many aspects, not just social and educational but its effects extend to different life aspects”. A third student reported, “Yes of course, as school is a part of our life. School has so many roots, talents, education, achievements, etc. It’s a part that cannot be neglected from a student’s life”.

As for the question “what learning experiences do you have in general?”, gifted students reported several experiences such as “It could be memorizing, understanding, or practicing. Understanding for example, like in physics or programming, memorizing in Arabic, words and their meanings and practicing like reciting poems for example. Most of the gifted students found that learning is fun. One gifted male student reported, “We could find pleasure in learning, or we could not, it depends on the personality of the individual and his environment”. Another gifted female student reported, “Some of the abilities I gained from my talent is my ability to make social relationships, public speaking and speaking to others”.

As for the question “Are gifted students more likely to be seen as nerds by their peers?”, the answers were neutral. Examples of the students who view that their peers’ perceptions are supportive include, “The classmates usually look at us as smart students because when the school organizes an event, they tend to choose the talented to participate” and “My peers are supportive, and they helped me a lot. They made me reach a high level and we are here challenging each other. They helped me to improve. Peer support is very essential for us. It is an honest challenge and not envious”, and “Yes, I received some support, but not much”. A fourth gifted female student said,” I am supported by my peers, and they helped me and gave me ideas for new projects, and they want me to draw and paint better. Another student reported “They helped me to grow and develop my application and they gave me feedback”. Other students didn’t see that their classmates are supportive. A gifted male student reported, “I have received some support. Some of my friends were not so supportive and there was a dishonest challenge at some points like each one wants to show that he is better”. Regarding the question “Are gifted more interested in learning than other students and do normal classmates care about learning than gifted students?”, a female gifted student reported, “The talented are always more known and have more experience because they gain more abilities from their talent, so they always have more abilities or more smartness than someone who doesn’t grow their talent”.

13. Attentional learning capital

This component is about how much time and attention are spent by the gifted on learning and their talent development, and whether this will vary depending on the talent domain (e.g., much for sports talents, little for mathematics). When asked about the average time they spend on learning and developing their abilities, a gifted male student said, “It is different from one to another. It depends on their ability and talent, and it also depends on how much free time available to work on the talent, they might be using most of their time improving their abilities by interacting with others in their life”. Another gifted female student who is talented in public speaking reported, “Every gifted person has a specific time to improve his/her abilities, for example, my talent is public speaking, and to improve I read or speak once or twice a week”. A third gifted female student said, “A talented person can take advantage of his free time by working on improving and inquiring about his talent to help improve it”. For the time spent on developing the talent, a gifted male student reported, “The programming field for example, is different from an Arabic field, it needs more time”. Another gifted female student said, “From my point of view as well that every talent has a specific time, a talent might need more time to work on and another might already be there”. Another gifted female student said, “I don’t limit the time I spend to improve my talent whether it’s at home or at school, I don’t miss any activity that can improve my talent, also at home its either your free time or at school at any time there’s an activity that can help improve and grow the talent”. Another interesting answer by a gifted female student, “I remember reading a book called ‘The Talent Code’ by Daniel Coyle, it said that each talent or ability needs a specific time used to be practiced so a person gets to perfection, but because we use our talents for fun then I agree with my classmates it depends on my free time”. A gifted male student reported, “: Yes, I feel like practicing improves the talent. I started growing my talent in grade 6 and up to grade 11 and now I am more advanced”. Another gifted female student described how she practices and develops her giftedness, “I think it’s important to help grow and improve my talent, it is also fun, but I practice with love and ambition, so it is not only fun for me”. Another student said, “I think I take it very seriously because it helps me improve as opposed to my classmates who don’t have that talent, I feel like they do it for fun but because I want to perfect it, I take it seriously, and with concentration”. When the teacher asks the student if this is for fun, the student answers, “Yes, I find it very interesting because I love it, so all my emotions and ambitions are towards my talent so that I learn and improve. Also, about learning experiences, they give me self-confidence and self-confidence is the best outcome from talents in people and you find it by improving your talents and trying repeatedly”. When asked about whether they, as gifted students, learn from the work they are doing, they reported it serves in both ways, namely, entertainment and self-fulfillment. For example, a gifted male student said, “I take is as both entertaining and a reliable source of practice”. Another student confirmed, “ I consider it both, in some talents it’s considered entertainment, and in others it’s a way to improve abilities”.

14. Conclusion

Gifted education in the Sultanate of Oman urgently needs to develop a procedural action plan that includes the following aspects:

• Developing the physical infrastructure for nurturing the gifted, including expanding clubs and scientific centers, creating special classes for the gifted students in regular schools, and opening a special school for the gifted as a first stage until the experience is evaluated later.

• Building specialized enrichment curricula for the gifted in the basic education school challenges the gifted abilities in science, mathematics, and technology.

• Providing an integrated package of diagnostic tests to discover the gifted students, with training specialists to be qualified to carry out the diagnostic process.

• Providing a gifted teacher or specialist in each school, whose priority is to build the enrichment plan for the nurturing of the gifted in the school and supervise its implementation.

• Building-integrated, comprehensive, and continuous databases for the gifted in the schools of the Ministry of Education.

• Creating training programs to develop creativity and innovation among talented and gifted students in various fields.

• Improving the experiences and capabilities of gifted and talented students by intensifying local and international events, competitions, and participation.

• Organizing exhibitions for the creativity and innovations of gifted students and linking them with investors and national factories in the Sultanate.

15. Limitations

Some limitations should be noted in this article. First, using open-ended interviews may limit the generalization of the results because participants’ responses might not be accurate (Rubin & Rubin, 2005). Second, the three groups (teachers/administrators, gifted students, and parents of gifted students) represented three governorates in Oman which are considered as hot spots in the field of gifted education. The results of this article should be interpreted with caution as the participants did not represent all of the governorates in the country.

Biographical note

Dr. Ahmed Hassan Hemdan is an associate professor at the Dept. of Special Education, College of Education, United Arabic Emirates University. He received his PhD from the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA in 2006 in Special Education/Gifted. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal for Research in Education (IJRE), UAEU. His research interests include assessment and education of gifted and talented students, developing and adapting assessments to the Arabic culture for students with special needs, designing and adapting enrichment programs for gifted and talented students, and the educational psychology of preschool children. He is currently a member of several professional associations such as the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC, UAE Delegate), the American Psychological Association (APA), the European Council for High Ability (ECHA), and the Arabic Council for the Gifted and Talented (ACGT). He participated in several regional and international conferences and chaired several sessions. He published several research articles and book chapters in peer-reviewed international publications in cooperation with different authors around the world. He led several national research grants in the fields of special education and early childhood. He won several national and regional awards for his scholarly achievements.

Abdullah Ambosaidi is a professor of Science Education. He received his Ph.D. from Centre of Science Education at Glasgow University/UK. Currently he is the undersecretary for Education at the Ministry of Education/Oman. He worked before at Sultan Qaboos University/Oman and held several positions including Director of the Center for Humanities Research and Dean of Postgraduate Studies. He has supervised more than 80 master’s and Ph.D. degrees in science education and he as external and internal examiner for more than 50 master’s and doctoral dissertations. He has more than 140 published and accepted research papers in well-known international journals. He is a consultant for many educational projects in Oman, including TAMAM Project (school-based development) and Green Schools Initiative. He is also a leading researcher of various educational projects, such as school garden project, ecotourism project, health education project and the Omani Heritage Project in the school curricula. His interests including students’ misconceptions in science, assessment, classroom environment and teaching methods of science.

Tarik Al-Kharusi is currently the assistant director of the Directory of Diagnosis and Caring for the Gifted at the Ministry of Education in Oman. He is also a doctoral candidate at the International Islamic University in Malaysia. He attended several training workshops in different fields. He also attended several local, regional, and international conferences and workshops related to special education. He led several national committees related to different fields. He is a member of the Arabic Council for the Gifted and Talented (ACGT) and participated in several research projects about giftedness identification and enrichment programs. He participated in a large-scale grant which received the National Research Award in 2017 by the Research Council. He was a team member in a task force in the MoE to develop a framework related to the indentation and education of gifted students. He received several recognition certificates for his active participation in workshops and symposia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Ahmed Hassan Hemdan

Ahmed Hassan Hemdan is an associate professor at the Special Education Dept., College of Education, UAE University. His research interests include assessment and identification of gifted students and students with disabilities and designing enrichment programs for gifted and talented students. He published several articles in refereed journals, participated in many international conferences, and is a member in many professional organizations.

Abdallah Ambusaidi

Abdallah Ambusaidi is a professor of Science Education. He is the undersecretary for Education at the Ministry of Education/Oman. He has supervised more than 80 master’s and doctorate degrees in science education and he is an external and internal examiner for more than 80 masters and doctoral dissertations. He has more than 140 published and accepted research papers in well-known international journals.

Tarik Al-Kharusi

Tarik Al-Kharusi is a PhD candidate in education (gifted Education) at the Faculty of Education International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM). He is the assistant director of the Department of Diagnosis and Gifted Education at the Ministry of Education, Oman. He participated in several regional and international workshops and conferences. He published several articles in peer-reviewed journals. He participated in several national research grants.