Affecting eternity: Teaching for talent development

This article draws together aspects of data from two projects. The first is a study of students identified by their schools at Year 8 (approximately age 13) as having the potential for outstanding performance in adulthood, and includes data from the students, their parents and their teachers. These data point to the centrality of the teacher in forming students' attitudes to school, and to particular subjects, as well as in acquiring the habits essential for effective learning. The data also indicate how essential it is that teachers understand children's changing cognitive and affective needs; the importance of teachers' own engagement with both subject matter and the learning process; and the need for students to be exposed to different kinds of teachers at different stages of talent development. The second project is based on the evolving work of a researcher/consultant in a school, charged with encouraging reflective practice and action research with particular emphasis on talented students. This project addresses some of the issues raised by the first project by seeking to embed professional development about talent potential firmly in the existing knowledge, beliefs and interests of the teachers, as well as within the practical context within which their work is conducted.