The Routledge International Companion to Gifted Education is a ground-breaking collection of fully-referenced chapters written by many of the most highly-respected authorities on the subject from around the world. These fifty contributors include distinguished scholars who have produced many of the most significant advances to the field over the past few decades, like Joseph Renzulli and Robert Sternberg, alongside authorities who ask questions about the very concepts and terminology embodied in the field - scholars such as Carol Dweck and Guy Claxton. This multi-faceted volume: highlights strategies to support giftedness in children, providing ideas that work and weeding out those that don't; is written in jargon-free language in an easy-to use themed format; is the most authoritative collection of future-focused views, ideas and reflections, practices and evaluations yet produced; includes chapters dealing with the major controversies and concerns in the field today, from the problems of identification to changing understandings of giftedness and creativity. The international aspect of the Companion, and its juxtaposition of points of view - whereby chapters are deliberately positioned and accompanied by editorial commentary to highlight the contrasts with each other - ensures that different views are addressed, allowing the reader to absorb and reflect upon the many perspectives on each issue. The Companion is a guide to the new ideas and controversies that are informing gifted education discussion and policy-making around the world. It is a first class resource to students and researchers alike.

The Routledge International Companion to Gifted Education is a ground-breaking collection of fully-referenced chapters written by many of the most highly-respected authorities on the subject from around the world. These fifty contributors include distinguished scholars who have produced many of the most significant advances to the field over the past few decades, like Joseph Renzulli and Robert Sternberg, alongside authorities who ask questions about the very concepts and terminology embodied in the field - scholars such as Carol Dweck and Guy Claxton. This multi-faceted volume: highlights strategies to support giftedness in children, providing ideas that work and weeding out those that don't; is written in jargon-free language in an easy-to use themed format; is the most authoritative collection of future-focused views, ideas and reflections, practices and evaluations yet produced; includes chapters dealing with the major controversies and concerns in the field today, from the problems of identification to changing understandings of giftedness and creativity. The international aspect of the Companion, and its juxtaposition of points of view - whereby chapters are deliberately positioned and accompanied by editorial commentary to highlight the contrasts with each other - ensures that different views are addressed, allowing the reader to absorb and reflect upon the many perspectives on each issue. The Companion is a guide to the new ideas and controversies that are informing gifted education discussion and policy-making around the world. It is a first class resource to students and researchers alike.

This book sets out the educational challenges, benefits and possibilities of embracing a truly inclusive approach to gifted and talented education and provides a framework for a school to create its own inclusive policy in this area of need.

Calling on international research, current educational initiatives, and work within the Barrow Education Action Zone (EAZ) and elsewhere, the authors set out to demonstrate that the inclusion and standards agendas can - and should - take with them the growing interest in the educational needs of gifted and talented pupils. The result is a short but comprehensive and fundamentally practical book, which will be of value to any school or LEA wishing to create and implement a dynamic, reflective and inclusive policy for gifted and talented pupils.

This book sets out the educational challenges, benefits and possibilities of embracing a truly inclusive approach to gifted and talented education and provides a framework for a school to create its own inclusive policy in this area of need. Calling on international research, current educational initiatives, and work within the Barrow Education Action Zone (EAZ) and elsewhere, the authors set out to demonstrate that the inclusion and standards agendas can - and should - take with them the growing interest in the educational needs of gifted and talented pupils. The result is a short but comprehensive and fundamentally practical book, which will be of value to any school or LEA wishing to create and implement a dynamic, reflective and inclusive policy for gifted and talented pupils.

Whatever it is that makes you you, can you affect it? Your answer to that question gives us a glimpse into your 'mindset'. People with fixed mindsets believe that fundamental qualities like intelligence are essentially stable; people with growth mindsets believe that such qualities can be developed and nurtured. As teachers, if we can foster growth mindsets in our students the results will be transformative. Barry Hymer and Mike Gershon begin by explaining how learners with growth mindsets are: more open to challenges and constructively critical feedback; resilient in the face of obstacles and initial failure; convinced that effort makes a difference; able to learn well with and from others; likely to rise to the top - and stay there. Practical strategies for developing this kind of learner is the focus of the rest of the book throughout which cartoons, diagrams and visual prompts support the text. The chapter Trial and Error is about high challenge tasks and the value of errors, mistakes and initial failure. Later chapters cover what exactly is meant by effort and how to make it appeal to students; the theory and practice of feedback (as opposed to praise and prizes); acquiring meta-cognitive tools for 'thinking about thinking' and 'learning about learning'; the power of language and drama to raise awareness of growth mindsets; and growing group growth mindsets. Former teacher Barry Hymer is now Prof. of Psychology in Education at the University of Cumbria. He wrote the Gifted & Talented and P4C Pocketbooks. Education consultant Mike Gershon's online teaching tools have been viewed/downloaded more than 2 million times by teachers in over 180 countries.

This essential and aspirational text is aimed at all beginning teachers whatever your training route, age phase and setting. It explicitly adopts and builds on a new metaphor for teachers' professional learning as interplay between the body of public knowledge and the practical wisdom of teachers within a particular school setting. It also accepts that 'telling' you how to teach is ineffective; you need to 'become a teacher' because it involves identity and practice. Inquiry-based critically reflective learning with a clear focus on the learning of pupils is proposed as the core strategy by which you can build your knowledge and skills to become an outstanding teacher. Core topics, including planning, inclusion, teaching, assessment and professional development, are tackled in an accessible and refreshing way, using key research informed evidence. The focus is relentlessly on 'learning' rather than performance, in order to support you becoming an excellent professional teacher, rather than a competent technician, who makes a difference to learners, colleagues, schools and policy. Think of this book as a temporary or additional mentor, challenging you with different ways of thinking about learning and providing strategies to guide your professional learning. "It takes 10 years or more to begin to be a brain surgeon, but sometimes we get 1-3 years at most before we are allowed to work with children's brains as teachers. So we need inspirational teachers and this is the focus of this compact, powerful and insightful book. It is wonderfully designed around five of the most critical dilemmas in our classrooms: belief vs. ability; autonomy vs. compliance; abstract vs. concrete; feedback vs. praise; and collaboration vs. competition. The power of the book is that it illustrates the new move to focus on learning power - and such a focus permits every student to become smarter through effort and deep practice as they struggle with the high-challenge learning activities - in the presence of inspirational, impactful and passionate teachers. The perfect book for those who want to make most of their opportunity to enhance students' brain power." John Hattie, Director, Melbourne Education Research Institute

Written by Barry Hymer and Peter Wells, Chess Improvement: It's all in the mindset is an engaging and instructive guide that sets out how the application of growth mindset principles can accelerate chess improvement. With Tim Kett and insights from Michael Adams, David Howell, Harriet Hunt, Gawain Jones, Luke McShane, Matthew Sadler and Nigel Short. Foreword by Henrik Carlsen, father of world champion Magnus Carlsen. Twenty-first-century knowledge about skills development and expertise requires us to keep such mystical notions as fixed 'talent' in perspective, and to emphasise instead the dynamic and malleable nature of these concepts. Nowhere is this more apparent than in chess, where many gifted players fall prey to plausible but self-defeating beliefs and practices - and thereby fail to achieve the levels their 'natural' abilities predicted. Happily, however, the reverse can be true too; through learned dispositions such as grit, risk-taking, strategic thinking and a capacity for sheer hard work, players of apparently modest abilities can achieve impressive results. Blending theory, practice and the distinct but complementary skills of two authors - one an academic (and amateur chess player) and the other a highly regarded England Chess Olympiad coach (and grandmaster) -Chess Improvement is an invaluable resource for any aspirational chess player or coach/parent of a chess player. Barry and Peter draw on interviews conducted with members of England's medal-winning elite squad of players and provide a template for chess improvement rooted in the practical wisdom of experienced chess players and coaches. They also include practical illustrative descriptions from the games and chess careers of both developing and leading players, and pull together themes and suggestions in a way which encourages readers to create their own trajectories for chess improvement.