An Introduction to Highly Able/Gifted & Talented Education

  • Facilitator: Anita Churchville
  • Time Commitment: 5 hours.
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Course Overview

An integral component of becoming a truly inclusive school includes intentionally and thoughtfully supporting learners who are highly or exceptionally able. In this course we will develop an understanding of this population and explore key myths and misconceptions that may present as barriers to action in supporting these learners. We will also explore questions of identification and diagnosis. This course is an ideal introduction for schools and educators who are just beginning the journey in addressing the needs of highly able learners.

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Meet the Facilitator

Anita Churchville

Anita is an educational consultant and founder of the HAGT Learners Collaborative. She currently coordinates the High Ability Program at the American School of Bombay and conducts professional development workshops, courses, and ongoing coaching at a number of private international schools with European and American curricula. She previously created and coordinated special and gifted education programs at the American School of Doha and at Academia Cotopaxi. She also worked as a program specialist in the Los Angeles Unified School District in California, supporting 16 schools. She has a master's degree in special and gifted education, a K-12 principal’s license, and certification as an educational diagnostician.

Anita has presented workshop sessions at the International Baccalaureate (IB) Regional conference, the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC) biennial world conference, annually at the Challenge for All Summit, I Am a Teacher (IAAT), ASB Un-Plugged, Center for International Education (CIE), ASB Plugged-In, International Career and Counseling Conference (IC3), DisruptED Conference, The Inquiry Educators’ Summit (TIES), the Knowledge Source Institute (KSI), University of Toronto Teacher Training Program, the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA), East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS), and SENIA International.

Anita's published writing includes The 3 E’s of Authentic Parent Partnership for Gifted Students (article, the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) and Ability Grouping ≠ Tracking (blog post, HAGT). Anita serves as a New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) accreditation school visitor and as a professional mentor for the Association of International Educators and Leaders of Color (AIELOC).

Patrick Jones - Course author

Warm Feedback 

I like how SENIA provides many other sources to read and to deepen knowledge. I also like to read posts from other teachers, from them I learn a lot.
Karina AyuInova, Indonesia
I found the introduction to a variety of behavior observation tools really useful and I also appreciated theoretical overview of what is behavior and some guiding principles around how to think about Behavior.
Chris Raymaakers, Singapore
I enjoyed the Discussion Boards. Having the opportunity to interact with other professionals and stakeholders was the most insightful and fulfilling.
AntonioTiples, IV, Phillippines
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