Towards exceptionality: The current status and future prospects of Australian gifted education

In this chapter some challenges currently facing gifted education in Australia will be identified, and we will outline what we believe are its future prospects. To better understand these challenges, however, it is important to place gifted education within a broader educational context, including a discussion of Australian gifted education policy and Australian research into gifted education. We argue that, at best, the relevance of gifted education is being undermined by what can be described as a ‘crowded classroom’. We conclude that in order to ensure that the needs of Australian students with the potential for exceptional achievement are met, gifted education must evolve in the way it defines giftedness and implements gifted education. This evolution must take advantage of the current regulatory environment, beginning with a National Policy that focusses on the development of exceptionality, supported by a systems-based model of talent development, that is, the actiotope model.