It is estimated that 2-15 % of the school-age population in Europe are gifted children. As they often seemingly learn effortlessly, it can give a false impression of their support needs. They need to be intellectually challenged to help them reach their full potential whilst being guided in their socio-emotional development and interactions with classmates. 

Several projects aim to establish a supportive atmosphere where gifted pupils can flourish and excel by encouraging collaboration amongst different stakeholders. These initiatives provide examples of successful methods and practices as the field of gifted education continues to develop, eventually helping talented individuals and their communities.

Keeping gifted pupils engaged

Some gifted children may become disengaged if schoolwork is too easy (they don't feel challenged by the content) or too boring (they find the learning methods too obvious or uninspiring). Therefore, it is important to keep them challenged with tasks that are appropriate to their level. Several Erasmus+ projects have created materials to help teachers.

The Talent Education project aimed to provide instructional resources to minimise underachievement and early school departure of gifted pupils. In order to do this, the project produced a comprehensive toolkit including ready-made teaching and guidance materials for teachers of gifted children. These include materials for identifying and observing gifted pupils, and lesson ideas to develop design thinking, metacognitive skills and differentiated teaching.

The Innomath project focused on supporting mathematically gifted pupils in grades 5 to 12. With the help of its collection of mathematical problems and a handbook of learning plans, teachers can replicate engaging activities in their classrooms.

The Ore Book (in five languages) was awarded a Good Practice label; it explained identifying gifted pupils, outlined different gifted education pedagogical methods and shared good practices and policy recommendations.

Teaching skills for gifted education

Gifted children can’t reach their full potential alone; they need teachers and school communities who are able to respond to their needs through different approaches and pedagogies.

To begin with, educators can learn the basics of gifted education in the five-module online course developed by the EGIFT project, which includes video lectures. The project also covers 'twice exceptionality', which is used to describe gifted pupils with a coexisting physical impairment and/or neurodivergent traits.

Another Erasmus+ project has produced examples of a whole-school approach to gifted education, including SWOT analysis, surveys, assessment, and good practices.

TALENT, an interuniversity project in Belgium (Flanders) aimed to improve learning, motivation, and the overall wellbeing of gifted learners. It put strong emphasis on raising awareness of the unique educational and developmental requirements of pupils with higher cognitive abilities and promoting cooperation among teachers, parents, and other stakeholders. Its resources, an e-learning course, a handbook for educators, and example practices for primary and secondary education, are available in Dutch.

The ZadarZaDar project (supported by the European Social Fund) in a Croatian primary school used experiential pedagogy, provided manuals and resources for educators and created a collaborative platform called ‘Online Centre Zadar for the Gifted’. The project benefitted hundreds of gifted students who broadened their education by studying science subjects in real-life situations.

Extracurricular support to talented youth

In addition to projects, several organisations focus on supporting gifted and talented children and youth and their educators. Among them, the European Talent Support Network (ETSN) includes 25 Talent Centres and 400 Talent Points in Europe and beyond. Many of its members offer different training and study programmes, like the Center for Talented Youth - CTY Greece.

Moreover, the European Council for High Ability (ECHA) organises annual conferences, professional training and collaboration opportunities for researchers and other stakeholders.