The GATE Center’s chief function is to provide a personalized education that appropriately challenges and nurtures each gifted student’s strengths and interests, unlocking their potential to become future pioneers and leaders of their own particular areas of talent.
“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking that it is stupid.”
It is appropriate that this passage was written by Einstein, a genius who for most of his early education career was continually frustrated and could not fit in with standard schooling. As a result, the young Einstein was never noticed as having exceptional ability, even if in hindsight his intellect has furthered humanity by great strides. The story is almost a parable, reflecting an urgent truth, of how there are students of great abilities who demand a differentiated curriculum that matches their abilities. Imagine how much we would lose if Einstein did not eventually get into a school where his gift was recognized and nurtured?
In recognition of the unique learning needs of high-ability students, Vinschool Education System addresses this demand by founding the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Center.
Gifted students are a varied group, generally defined as students who have significantly above-average ability compared to their peers. The GATE Center has identified the following groups in Vinschool as having potential to greatly flourish under a gifted education program, and a student can belong to multiple groups:
There is no one typical image of a gifted student. Because of that, the GATE Center’s identification of gifted students requires a holistic approach, assessing multiple aspects of a student’s abilities. The process is not passing a series of tests, but rather an investigation that builds a “body of evidence” from cognitive tests, academic achievements, verbal and written proficiencies, spontaneous problem solving, portfolios, and testimonies from those who have worked closely with the students. Finally, GATE Center’s staff and experts in their respective fields will assess the cumulative body of evidence for each student. Although quantitative tests are present, it is the people that make the decisions, not numbers.
Given the tenet that gifted students need to be carefully developed in accordance to their own strengths and interests, each student will have their own individualized Advanced Learning Plan (ALP) which outlines learning and developmental goals that are based on the student’s wishes as well as the steps needed to get there. ALPs are constructed through a cooperation between experts, the school, parents, and most importantly, the student. This way, we ensure that the student’s personal aspirations and strengths are the basis for our work, and that the student will have access to a wide variety of challenging coursework, state-of-the-art programs, and a support network tailored to the needs of each talent.
The GATE center believes that a personalized education is the key to success in nurturing talents; therefore, the support that the GATE Center offers each student varies on a case-by-case basis. For instance:
For students who wishes to bring about social change, the GATE Center will provide support in various ways, such as:
If a student wishes to make new discoveries and/or inventions (for example, study the chemical and physical properties of a new substance or invent a new medicine), the GATE Center will support the student by:
If you are interested in our GATE Center and its program or have any questions, feel free to contact the GATE Center via [email protected]
Vinschool Education System
