Government’s Green Paper on Education A Flying Start for Queensland Children:

 The Government’s Green Paper on Education A Flying Start for Queensland Children: is available for public consultation at  the following website:

 http://deta.qld.gov.au/aflyingstart/pdfs/greenpaper.pdf

 QAGTC as an organisation with vested interests in quality education needs to have input into this document.

The green paper provides a context of what it sees as important reforms over the past decade and seeks input on a number of other initiatives. QAGTC and its members need to put their view forward as it relates to the education of gifted children.

 My reading of the document raises some issues. 

Clearly the focus of the report is on enhancing Queensland’s relatively poor literacy and numeracy performances on formal testing. Without doubt young children are advantaged in circumstances where parents or others read frequently to them before school.  It is also acknowledged that intellectual growth, that is brain development, is rapid in the first years of life but does not stop there.  There is in the paper no recognition that brain development might be at different rates and that an intellectually stimulating environment might foster more rapid and complex brain development. Hence age is not an absolute in defining when a child might be ready for school.  Although not acknowledged explicitly in the paper, this stimulation has to also be a feature of the school environment.  What counts as a stimulating environment for one child might not be for another.  Hence there is a responsibility on the education system, teachers and parents to ensure that each and every child is stimulated and challenged at levels commensurate with their level of development.

Others I would find of considerable value such as the improved access to kindergarten but in a state as decentralised as Queensland what does that imply for regional and remote areas?

The paper suggests a greater role for the community in supporting learning. QAGTC has been involved in such activities since its inception but generally without government support. Will there be incentives for community organisations to engage with young children in pre-school reading programs? Does QAGTC have a role in supporting “reader ready” initiatives?

The issue of the position of year 7 is the focus of objective 2 of the report.  Arguments are provided that support the relocation of Year 7 in high school on the grounds that children should be exposed to more specialised knowledge and be taught by content specialist teachers.  Parents of gifted children have long advocated for opportunities for gifted children to be accelerated to high school because of the enhanced intellectual challenges available.  In principle, relocation of Year 7 into High School could be of benefit to the gifted assuming.  Irrespective of my opinion, the green paper resorts to the argument that because of the introduction of prep, children will be older in grade 7 in the next few years. The premise of age dependent cognitive development dominates the department’s thinking.  That intellectual development might not be so tightly age related is not acknowledged.

 Objective 3 discusses preservice teacher education.  Gifted education receives limited attention in the training of teachers and indeed many preservice teachers are quite apprehensive about teaching gifted children and harbour stereotypical misconceptions about the gifted child. Where gifted education units are available in University courses they are generally electives. There is good anecdotal evidence that participating in gifted education courses enhances the capacity of teachers to teach to all children.

The Government is strongly influenced by the Master’s report which advocated formal testing of teachers among other changes. Some of the strategies that have been proposed – e.g., testing teachers after graduation from colleges, to me seem illogical. Why not test them before they enter colleges or provide better incentives to pursue teaching careers?  Many undergraduates choose a teaching career because they cannot get into any other given their own academic performances.

Members might like to share their thinking on the issue or submit an individual response to the paper. There is a questionnaire that you can complete at the end of the Green Paper and return to the department.

Submissions can be made via email at aflyingstart [at] deta [dot] qld [dot] gov [dot] au

Fax: 07 3237 1175or mailed to

A Flying Start for Queensland Children Green Paper