Gifted Learners

Tukuna kia rere

Gifted and talented mailing list guidelines

The Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) community is a mailing list and resource for teachers and educators to seek and share ideas, approaches, and resources about effective practice for gifted and talented learners. It is funded by a Ministry of Education contract awarded to the University of Waikato.

Purpose of the mailing list

The purpose of this mailing list is to share and advance matters of interest and relevance to gifted and talented education:

  • Provide a space to network with other professionals
  • Provide leadership in a national forum
  • Connection/cohesion for educators in the field of gifted and talented education

This mailing list and resource is not a forum for political discussions or debate. The views expressed on this mailing list are those of individuals and do not necessarily represent the views of the Ministry of Education or the University of Waikato.

Vivienne Russell of the University of Waikato Institute of Professional Learning facilitates this community and is responsible for facilitating and moderating this resource.

Role of the moderators

The role of the moderators is to:

  • Ensure the purpose of the mailing list and the guidelines as set out are followed
  • Ensure content is appropriate and meets the purpose and the guidelines
  • Ensure postings are inline with the spirit and intent of the mailing list
  • Facilitate a complaints process

When material is deemed not suitable for the mailing list the moderator will:

  • Review material and make suggested editorial suggestions to the contributor, or
  • Reject the material outright

Process for complaint

The process for complaint is:

  • Contact one of the moderating team formally in writing within 10 working days of the review or rejection, clearly setting out the reason/s for the complaint.
  • The moderators will meet, discuss the basis of the complaint and provide a formal decision within 10 days of receiving the formal complaint.
  • The moderation panel decision is final and no further correspondence will be entered into.

Posting a message

This is a moderated group which means that all posts are approved by one or more of our moderators before they are published to the community.

Please use these guidelines when posting a message to the community:

  • Be polite, professional, supportive and inclusive in posting and responding to colleagues.
  • Be aware of ethical considerations around privacy and confidentiality. Do not include any information that might identify specific individuals, schools or organisations without their informed consent.
  • Use clear and meaningful titles that explain your message and what you want people to do. For example, if you have a question or comment seeking others' views on how to differentiate for gifted and talented students, your title could read "Differentiating the curriculum - your views please". All posts * are archived and specific titles help colleagues find topics previously discussed. Write short, clear messages. Consider your busy audience and be concise. Avoid unnecessary text.
  • Attaching files. The best way to share a file is through the Teacher resource exchange. It is easy to upload a file which is moderated and then becomes a permanent resource for the whole community. It is possible to send an attachment of up to one megabyte to the community (find the size by right-clicking on the file and choose "Properties" in Windows or "Get Info" in Mac OS).
  • Posts relating to relevant education-based professional events and services will not be forwarded to the mailing list but may be adapted for the "Upcoming Events Section" on the TKI website. This section will be updated regularly. Posting on the website does not imply endorsement by the Ministry of Education or the University of Waikato.
  • Links in email footers promoting education-based professional services should be removed before a message is posted.

Responding to a message

  • Private vs. public posting. When you respond to a message, your response automatically goes to the whole community – not just the original author. Respond privately if the original poster has asked for a private reply or you think that is more appropriate.
  • Summarise the original message. Include the highlights and key points you're responding to. Make sure your response adds new insight or information to the conversation. Responding "I agree" does not add much to a thread.
  • Sign your messages with your name and email address. This is a courtesy and also enables people to reply to you individually.

Message archives

Due to privacy concerns and the legacy nature of the TKI mailing lists, the archive of Gifted and Talented posts is no longer available. Subscribers should check their inboxes for previous posts.