Volume 2(2): 215-231
www.ejolts.net
ISSN 2009-1788
Educational Journal of Living Theories
Developing Talents to Create and Offer
Knowledge of the Self and the World as
Educational Gifts*
Marie Huxtable
Marie Huxtable
Bath & North East
Somerset Local Authority
*The views expressed in the
paper are the author's and do
not necessarily reflect the local
authority's.
Copyright: © 2009 Huxtable.
This is an open access article
distributed under the terms of
the Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial
License, which permits
unrestricted non-commercial
use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and
source are credited.
Abstract
I work as a senior educational psychologist in a small English
authority developing and coordinating programmes intended
to improve inclusive, personalised gifted and talented
educational theory, practice and provision for the benefit of all
learners. I am concerned with issues I believe are fundamental
and critical to all education: to create offer, and accept
knowledge of the self and the world as gifts; to be responsible
for ones own learning, and to use the knowledge to enhance
the wellbeing of the greater community.
Through the creation and offering of this multimedia living
theory account as a gift I test the validity of my claim that I can
hold myself publically accountable for improving my practice. I
use an ecological, living approach to evaluation to inform and
form my evolving creative educational practice.
In this paper I describe some of the complex ecology in which
my work is located, clarify what I mean by creative educational
practice, transformational CPD (Continuing Professional
Development), and an ecological, living approach to
accountability and describe and explain creative educational
practice that exemplifies inclusive and inclusional gifted and
talented education with an example of work with a teacher on
the professional Masters programme. I conclude with what I
have learned from creating this account.
I have learned how recognising the confusions and
contradictions of explicit and implicit values in national
strategies helps me work with what it offers to the
development of creative educational practice.
I have deepened my understanding of theory, practice and
provision that supports teachers and young people to develop
and enhance their talents to create and offer their unique gifts
as valued and valuable contributions to evolving a humane and
sustainable world.
Keywords: Creative Practice; Inclusive Education; Inclusional
Practice; Gifts; Talents.