Educating the More Able Student

Originally a teacher in inner city London for 20 years, Ian Warwick founded LG&T in 2003 as part of the groundbreaking London Challenge, which reported directly to the Prime Minister’s Office, and transformed education across the capital city. LG&T has directly worked with well over 5,000 schools and 11,000 teachers internationally and more than 150,000 educators worldwide have used our award winning high challenge e-learning materials.  Ian co-wrote ‘Educating the More Able Student’ and ‘World Class’ in 2016 and two new books on ‘Redefining More Able Education’ written with Ray Speakman in 2018. He has recently completed a book on learning called Unfinished Perfection, which focuses on Leonardo Da Vinci and explores strategies for improving creativity and innovation. As well as writing dozens of articles and chapters in national and international journals and compendiums, he has also spoken at over 100 international conferences. He developed a suite of 450 hours of customised online learning materials for the Hong Kong Gifted Academy and for schools in Singapore. He has worked directly with networks of schools and universities in many countries across Europe and Africa, as well as the Middle and Far East, working with them to develop and embed tailored learning resources and professional development courses. Ian is a founding member of the Innovation and Research Steering Group at Eton College, and a Governor at the London Academy of Excellence, with a national reputation as one of the UK’s leading state sixth form providers. He has established and led 10 highly successful independent state school partnerships across the UK. Ian also just finished a 3 year research project on ‘how to create cultures of excellence’ for the Mayor of London with a network of schools including Eton and Wellington Colleges, combined with a network of state schools across London.

Well-travelled, and often polemical, the authors have achieved a triumph of collaboration. The strength of the book is in their shared and uncompromising view that the most able are being ignored in the UK.  They are right and they must be heard. The well read, left-wing reformer and the free-thinking establishment heavyweight have done their homework. Instead of getting lost in the debate about identifying the most able, they have pursued a practical path and toured the world to find out what more can, and should, be done. Instead of concluding that the solutions are complex, they have concluded that the solutions are many. This results in a refreshing perspective and it might just be enough to stir all of us in schools to wake up, get up off our seats and do something for a change.

• Section 1: BackgroundA Note on our MethodologyThe Global Picture: History and OversightThe Local Picture: The UKSection 2: TechniquesTechniques, and the Renzulli ApproachAcceleration and CompactionThe Robinson Center for Young ScholarsEnrichment and Add-InOut of Class Enrichment, the Internet and Summer SchoolsThe Genius Programme, Competitions and Tertiary LinksSpecialist Schools and the Issue of SelectionTeacher Training, Resources and the Cluster ApproachDisadvantage, Gender and Ability As An IllnessSection 3: CountriesThe PISA Tables, UK, Finland and South KoreaSingapore, Hong KongAustraliaUnited States of AmericaSection 4: Future DirectionsCore IssuesA Proposal for the UKThe Future: Creativity, Critical Thinking and Mindfulness