A Story of Inquiry over Time

Overview & Synopsis

Gifted education in Australia has a story punctuated by four senate inquiries initiated by either state or federal governments, and a Commonwealth commissioned report, each charged with investigating the education of gifted and talented children across Australia. A related document is a position paper produced by the Australian Association for the Education of the Gifted and Talented (AAEGT) in 1996. Each of these reviews has produced a set of recommendations that set directions for gifted education in Australia. Using qualitative document analysis (Morgan, 2022), this article explores three themes that appear across the reviews: (a) the definition of giftedness/gifted learners, (b) teacher education and development, and (c) the need for greater Australian research focussed on giftedness and gifted learners. This assessment of the inquiries/reports/reviews into the education of gifted learners suggests that addressing these themes will continue the story as a useful way to inform and direct the future of gifted education in Australia.