The Identification and Nurturing of high ability students in the slums of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

The proposed research and intervention explores an under-researched area in developing countries. It will investigate how children, living in slum areas, can provide support for each other's learning by developing methods for stimulation and enhancement including general cognitive skills and processes. The programme commences with the identification of children within slums who exhibit potential leadership and high ability skills. The project explores the identification of high ability children attending schools of different management types in slums of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It is proposed initially to select around 50 schools randomly within a slum area. Initially focus will be on how, if at all, identification of high ability students currently takes place. It will consider if there are any gender or cultural biases with regards to the perception of who is or isn't currently identified as high potential/ability. Interviews will be set up with teachers to determine who they believe are the children with potential and high ability within their own classes. Once this has been established the research will use a range of methods (including a battery of tests and teacher assessments) to systematically screen all grade six children (aged around 10-11 years old) attending the 50 participating schools. Comparisons will be made using these test results with those children identified by teachers using the accepted thinking and methodology. Using these data, a low cost but scientifically valid (i.e., reliable and diagnostically accurate) identification mechanism for high ability children will be created and field-tested. The research then ascertains how this identification mechanism will continue to be used in project schools (sustainability) and imitated by other schools in related neighbourhoods (scalability). It is hoped that once this identification process has been developed it will provide a stimulus to the discussions around how high ability students in slums are identified. Self perception of ability will also be investigated with those children identified to have potential and high ability. Again issues around gender and traditional values will be explored.
Second, the project will look at ways of devising and implementing a Saturday Scholar Program (SSP) initially catering for around 400 children of all ability ranges. This 18 month long project will aim to develop a framework for and possibly pilot one SSP in one school, in preparation for the possible continuation of funding. Every child needs to benefit from the SSP. For those identified as high ability it implies extending and nurturing their leadership abilities into more advanced areas of expertise. Techniques learnt and practical exploration of these techniques with other children will allow the high ability children to become better leaders and purveyors of knowledge and skills. For other students it implies learning and being stimulated by new pedagogical techniques along with their peers.
In order to stimulate children's potential as well as to retain enthusiasm, trials can be undertaken to look at providing awards (i.e., badges or stamps in a book) once tasks or milestones within the SSP have been met. One method to trial at the pilot SSP could be groups of children producing narrative films (using handheld device, such as Nokia phones), around subjects identified by the 'teacher' from the curriculum or learning track of the SSP (could be science, maths etc.). Once the groups have made their films, the phones will be passed around the groups who will rate them using an assessment sheet. Using different types of pedagogy, such as this will aim to provide all students with 21st century skills to stimulate employability. The SSP will include training school principles and teachers.
Dissemination will include the popular media as well as academic journal articles. Policy makers and opinion formers will be targeted to inform them of the findings and impact.

Who will benefit from this research?
This research programme aims to fill important gaps in our understanding regarding the identification of high ability children as well as the interactions between these students, their peers, their teachers, the community and learning and leadership through new pedagogical interfaces. This research will inform policy makers, practitioners, teachers and psychologists who are dealing with high ability children and their possible contribution to others, including poverty alleviation. The results will also interest school owners and parents as well as organisations interested in the development of pedagogy around peer learning and those considering the contributions high ability children can make to others in their communities. Finally, this research represents a significant step towards furthering our understanding of the effects of the identification and nurturing of high ability children which is anticipated to benefit a range of social science disciplines, and address some fundamental social issues that are of interest to the general public and policy makers both in developing countries as well as at the development agency level.
How will they benefit from this research?
Our study will benefit those considering the contribution of the identification and nurturing of high ability children and the contribution they can make to their society. What will also be considered is how this information can assist the understanding of teachers and educational and applied psychologists, educational policy makers as well as providing a blue print for the identification and nurturing of high ability children in slum areas of developing countries, thus highlighting the need to measure ability for both genders rather than relying upon what is conventional in development settings. Parents and teachers of high ability children as well as aid agencies, NGOs, governments and education departments in both the UK and Tanzania and internationally will gain a richer understanding of the impact high ability children once identified can make on their communities and peers.
What will be done to ensure that they have the opportunity to benefit from this research?
We will disseminate our findings to practitioners, education professional, governments and aid agencies by presenting at major international conferences as well as to DfID, and the Tanzania education department. We will also submit at least tow papers for publication to well respected journal in the field, such as the International Journal of Development, Gifted Education Quarterly, and Comparative Education. Moreover, we will communicate our findings to individuals and organizations interested in the development of high ability children by presenting our findings at established workshop series and lecture series. We will also present through public lectures and workshops, and the PI will aim to report on the outcomes of the project, in a non-technical form, through a TED talk and on Youtube. We will also post our findings on the E.G. West Centre's website (http://www.ncl.ac.uk/egest). This is specifically designed to give information in a wider from to a wider public. We will further publicise our results to the general public by issuing and sending a press release to potential interested media (BBC, respectable local and national newspapers, popular science websites) via Newcastle University's Press Office.