Gifted Education International 1989 Vol. 6, pp. 125-127 © 1989 A 8 Academic Publishers • reviews THE SCHOOLWIDE ENRICHMENT MODEL Joseph S. Renzulli and Sally M. Reis, Creative Learning Press, Inc. {1985) This book is written as a result of 10 years' development and field testing in a number of schools throughout the United States and Canada. The basic rationale of the book is based on two main educational premises. The first premise is that the major purpose of educational experience is to develop gifted behaviours by presenting all children with opportunities to manifest whatever gift or talent they have in embryo. The second major premise is that the organization and overall philosophy of the school are the most important features which need attention if all children are going to have access to an enriched educational provision. The writers fundamentally believe in the need to develop equality of opportunity through equality of provision. The writers a!so argue that effective change cannot be imposed on teachers: it must be developed through teacher growth. Enrichment should take place largely in the normal classroom and change should be evolutionary. Change depends on effective leadership and plans that are worked through democratically and with concern for the particular needs of the school concerned. The book is essentially practical without being prescriptive and is intended as a resource book of ideas which teachers can adapt to meet their individual situations. I recommend this highly as a source of inspiration and guidance to all educators, parents and administrators who are concerned to establish a fair and equitable system of education for all children; yet a system which at the same time allows individual progress and differentiation. Too often books about education are full of theory and jargon: this one is not, and is set within the real context of the everyday classroom and the real needs of teachers and pupils. Belle Wallace QUESTIONING AND TEACHING: A MANUAL OF PRACTICE J. T. Dillon, Croom Helm Curriculum Policy and Research Series, Paperback, £9.95, 1988. This apparently modest volume by John Dillon, Associate Professor of Education at the University of California, is an important contribution to teachers' knowledge about the role of questions and questioning in the classroom. The reader should not be put off by the early mentions of Socrates, because the volume is not a distant academic exercise but a practical contribution to the debate about, and practice of, classroom questioning. The author is well respected, has read widely, and has contributed numerous papers to education journals on the subject. The book begins with an introductory chapter on the Practice of Questioning and then proceeds to examine four main areas: Student questions, Teacher questions, questioning and recitation, and questioning and discussion. The layout of the book conforms with the modern trend in educational texts, that is to involve the reader in active engagement with the text. Each chapter begins with an introduction and summary, followed by an overview of the chapter's main sections. Boxed schemes supply summaries throughout the chapter of the argument to date, and extensive use is made of figures and tables. Each chapter has a narrative illustrated with classroom exchanges. These narratives are used to describe the characteristics of questions in classroom practice, to identify the elements of questioning involved, and to propose "a pedagogy of questions" or a scheme for action by the teacher. Extensive use is made of illustrations and examples, and each chapter ends with a concluding section to summarise the points made. There is an extensive bibliography for further study, and this bibliography is wide-ranging rather than confined to normal educational practice. It is not suggested that the reader will approach this textbook unquestioningly. There are a number of debatable, if not contentious, issues raised by the text. One may not agree entirely with Dillon's underlying philosophies of education. One could certainly quibble with the range of references provided, even though these are extensive and varied. Nevertheless this book represents an important contribution to the debate about classroom questions. As such it must form a crucial element in the professional improvement of teachers who deal with all children, and particularly children with high abilities. It will help teachers of the most able both to use questioning more effectively as a teaching tool and also to exploit the questions of pupils to greater advantage. Trevor Kerry Doncaster Metropolitan Institute of H.E. EDUCATING ARTISTICALLY TALENTED STUDENTS Gilbert A. Clark and Enid D. Zimmerman, Syracuse, University Press {April 23, 1987) Educating Artistically Talented Students presents ·an historical and theoretical approach to the examination of past and present practices and programmes for educating students talented in the field of visual arts. After discussion of a variety of state policies about gifted and talented education, practical suggestions are offered to help programme designers and administrators to evaluate their existing programmes and to consider initiating and monitoring new programmes. Current testing and identification practices are reviewed and in an extended discussion of screening procedures a sequence of identification strategies is suggested to identify children with artistic potential. The book provides an analysis of the criteria used to select teaching materials and this is accompanied by an extended resource list of commercial materials which are available. Although the book provides very practical guidelines for both identification and for the structure of programmes the authors emphasize throughout the importance of looking at the individual child's particular abilities and needs. They stress that commercially produced materials must be used only as the basis from which other ideas grow. The development of artistic talent obviously fosters specific skills and techniques but only as media through which the original vision of the child can be expressed. The authors never lose sight of the fundamental need for flexibility and adaptability of any resource material. It is written in a clear organized style and provides a wealth of information for teachers who are specifically concerned with developing artistically talented pupils. Belle Wallace THE ARTS IN SCHOOLS- PRINCIPLES, PRACTICE AND PROVISION A report published by the Calouste Gulbenkien Foundation, Oyez Press Ltd, London 1982 The essential message of this book is that the arts have a vital and fundamental place in the balanced education of all children. The writers confront the problem that education is often seen as preparation for work with the result that education of the arts is often seen as unimportant and even unnecessary. They see the arts as making vital contributions to children's education in six main areas: The arts are fundamental ways of organizing our understanding of the world. Creative thought and action should be fostered in all areas of education particularly at this time of accelerated change in all aspects of social life. Education often neglects the development of feeling and emotion and the arts provide a natural means for this. Volume 6 No 2 1989, 125 at UNIV CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA on June 25, 2015 gei.sagepub.com Downloaded from