Students with exceptionalities in Kazakhstan

The support of talented, creative young people has been regarded as a priority by the Ministry of Education and Science in the Republic of Kazakhstan since gaining independence. Talented children are seen as the intellectual potential of the country, and the practical implementation of quality education provision for them has been undertaken under the auspices of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center "Daryn", created by order of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev "On state support and development of schools for gifted children "(1996). The main goal of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center "Daryn" is a purposeful formation of intellectual elite in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Giftedness in Kazakhstan is defined as a wide range of intellectual abilities and special talents in different subjects (disciplines). Accordingly, the nature of the school determines the admission procedure, which is often highly competitive. Performance-based assessment, prior performance and interviews in the process of identifying giftedness are used traditionally. Nevertheless, the Daryn Centre is identifying ‘motivated and able pupils, who want to know more’ among primary school children. This can be done through online games like a national game called Ak Bota, where a child can demonstrate willingness to study mathematics, Kazakh/Russian language and literature or via their participation in tournaments, Olympiads, various intellectual games, competitions etc. The approach to the definition (what) and identification (who) for gifted education in Kazakhstan are more likely to be under the talent development paradigm (Yakavets, 2013).

On the other hand how gifted education is ensured in our country is related to both the gifted child and the talent development paradigm. The segregation of gifted children confirms the former and the latter is supported by the diverse opportunities for the development of the abilities and talents of students (Dai & Chen, 2013). Education is provided to them through Daryn schools, NIS, Kazakh-Turkish lyceums and other specialized institutions for gifted. Some of the Daryn schools can implement a different curriculum from the one required by the Ministry of Education and Science. This gives schools the flexibility to spend more hours on subjects belonging to their specialization (e.g. physics, maths, languages, music, etc.). However, there is currently a new trajectory in the development of gifted education in Kazakhstan – Nazarbayev intellectual schools (Yakavets, 2013). These schools have internationally recognized, independent curriculum, which supports trilingual policy.

The contribution to the development of intellectual potential of the country is the goal of NIS by offering a curriculum based on internationally recognised standards. Its target school graduate is a patriot of the country with moral values, fluent in Kazakh, Russian and English. He or she is an individual with high intellectual capacity able to think critically and creatively, strong in spirit, able to apply his/her knowledge for the benefit of social progress.

To conclude, Kazakhstani model of gifted education is represented better by the talent development paradigm, however it has a tone of a gifted child paradigm in education and justification. It is quite possible that this is due to the relative youth of the state.

References:

Dai, D. Y., & Chen, F. (2013). Three paradigms of gifted education: In search of conceptual clarity in research and practice. Gifted Child Quarterly, 57(3), 151-168.

Nazarbayev, N. (1996). Order of the President of Kazakhstan “On state support and development of schools for gifted children” (№ 3002). Astana.

Yakavets, N. (2013). Reforming society through education for gifted children: The case of Kazakhstan. Research Papers in Education, 29(5), 513-533.

-Does he have special needs? Is he gifted? -Twice-yes

When a student is different it is not easy to find a right approach for teaching him/her, because general techniques do not work. But when a student is “double-different”, it is more likely to be “double-difficult”. This case is referred to twice-exceptional students or, in other words, gifted students with learning disabilities. How to identify such unordinary children? How to find the best way of teaching them?

Talented children with special needs may be initially identified with one of the exceptionalities: a disability. It happens especially when talent is not so conspicuous and a disability has sensory or physical nature, such as visual impairment. Ignorance of child’s talent may lead to placing him/her into a special school, where his/her skills will be ignored and consequently lost (Lovett & Lewandowski, 2006).  However, if disability is not evident and school uses intelligence and ability test scores to assess students, the results of twice-exceptional children may show the middle level of academic progress, which more likely deprive such students from any special program, neglecting their needs (Ruban, 2005). Hot debates about how to identify such children did not provide only one feasible solution. Nevertheless, there are possible options such as “rating scales of creative behavior” and “classroom observation” (Lovett & Lewandowski, 2006, p. 520), which can tell about students’ skills more information than IQ test.

After identifying a child as “twice-exceptional”, the question how to teach them appears immediately. Some educators prefer special programs, such as the Renzulli’s model of talent development, which, providing a special approach for each student, gives them an opportunity to enhance their creativity (Ruban, 2005). Other teachers work with such children intuitively, taking into account their unusual peculiarities and combine teaching methods for learning difficulties and giftedness. For instance, a child with learning problems who prefers tactile-kinesthetic type of information perceiving requires “multiple opportunities for movement” (Winebrenner, 2003, p.134) with a proviso not to bother his/her peers. On the other hand, this child may show high results and from time to time needs to work on different activities while others continue to do previous tasks. 

In conclusion, twice-exceptional students are very thin-skinned in terms of their learning needs, which may be identified only with careful analysis of their skills and behavior. Thus, teachers who work with such children must be twice-qualitative and competent in order to distinguish their nature and contribute to the students’ development, supporting their talents and helping them to cope with their problems.

 

References

Lovett, B. J., & Lewandowski, L. J. (2006). Gifted Students With Learning Disabilities Who Are They?. Journal of learning disabilities, 39(6), 515-527.

Ruban, L. M. (2005). Identification and assessment of gifted students with learning disabilities. Theory into practice, 44(2), 115-124.

Winebrenner, S. (2003). Teaching strategies for twice-exceptional students. Intervention in School and Clinic, 38(3), 131-137.