Contextual learning theory, inclusive education, and high-ability pupils Paper presented at the 'European Conference on Educational Research' Dublin, September 7th- 10th 2005 Ton Mooij & Ed Smeets Radboud University Nijmegen, ITS P.O. Box 9048 6500 KJ Nijmegen (The Netherlands) t.mooii(a),its.ru.nl; e.smeetsfiiits.ru.nl In many countries, mainstream education is based on a yearly grading system which means that evaluation and achievement nonns reflect the pupils' general mean performances in school subjects. Specific instructional or organisational provisions are created for children with special educational needs (SEN) e.g., some kind of disability or lack in cognitive, social, physical, or motor development area (Bennathan & Boxall, 1996; Bogenschneider, 2002). These children run a clearly higher risk than mainstream children to experience that their school functioning is not adequate. This may cause demotivation and activate disturbing or aggressive behaviour, and lead to final drop-out (cf. Gamier, Stein, & Jacobs, 1997; Loeber & Famngton, 2001). On the other hand, children who are developmentally ahead of most of their peers can usually do without too specific coaching, instruction, or repetition. Highly able or gifted pupils may then experience motivational, cognitive, and social problems as a result of having to work below their potential and being forced to underachieve (cf. Butler-Por, 1987; Durkin, 1966; Mooij, 1992). Hoogeveen, van Hell, Mooij, and Verhoeven (2004) reviewed experimental studies of giftedness in education and concluded that the most differentiated curricula were the best for gifted pupils. This was in line with the outcomes of research overviews by Lloyd (1999) and Westberg and Archambault (1997). Gifted children attending special programmes (e.g., special school, separate class, pull-out class) performed better than their gifted peers not in such programmes (Delcourt, Loyd, Comell, & Goldberg, 1994). Moreover, various forms of educational acceleration clearly promote the educational and vocational achievement of high ability pupils (Colangelo, Assouline, & Gross, 2004). From pedagogical, learning, vocational, and societal points of view, then, problems may exist with respect to the integration of learning characteristics and potentials in mainstream education. It seems necessary to design education in such ways that it fits the various needs of pupils, to improve their motivation and learning achievement and to prevent problems both in and outside school (cf. also Collier, 1994; Cronbach, 1983). Therefore, the question for research is: What are the necessary features of the optimal educational design for the learning processes of both SEN and high ability pupils, and how can the relevant educational and learning changes be brought about? In our answer we first focus on the Dutch educational situation with respect to SEN pupils and high-ability pupils. We sketch and analyse recent developments with respect to mainstream and inclusive education. The potential system improvement is based on the acknowledgement that mainstream curriculum can be differentiated into multiple levels (e.g., national level, school district or community level, school level, class level, small group level, individual level). Second, more specific guidelines to design psychologically more adequate learning processes and organisational and managerial procedures can be based on 'contextual learning theory' (cf. Mooij, 2005, in press). Systemic improvement potentials are for example located in preventive diagnostics and consequent instruction, to match the learning characteristics of the various pupils. Learning can be organised more individually or, preferably, in small groups of collaborative learners. Intemet-based Infonnation and Communication Technology (ICT) is also necessary to support integration of pedagogical-didactic information and adequate handling in and outside schools. Third, we elaborate the practice of an improved, inclusive educational system with respect to mainstream and special education and adequate provisions for high ability pupils. We give some first practice examples of preschool and primary education, to illustrate ongoing improvement by implementing guidelines of contextual learning theory. In our opinion, main features of the improved system, and procedures for developing and integrating educational facilities for both SEN pupils and high ability pupils, can be used in a similar way in other countries. 1 Mainstream and special education in The Netherlands 1.1 Introduction In the course of the twentieth century, Dutch mainstream and special education facilities were constituted as relatively separate educational systems. In the early nineties, however, educational policy moved towards improving the potential of mainstream primary schools to cater for the needs of SEN pupils. Starting 1992, mainstream primary schools were obliged to co-operate in clusters which included special primary schools for pupils with learning or behavioural disabilities. The target group of pupils with special educational needs was not properly defined, however. It included children with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, as well as children of the former schools for pupils with learning disabilities or behavioural difficulties which are now labelled special primary schools.