Operation Houndstooth Gifted learners develop social and moral reasoning skills within a social capital framework

• Main Author: Coster, Elizabeth
• Language: en
• Published: University of Canterbury. College of Education 2014
• Subjects: co-cognitive; emotional intelligence; environmental education; Operation Houndstooth; problem solving; social capital
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10092/8927

Acceptance of emotional intelligence as a form of giftedness has been a very gradual process particularly when placed alongside more widely recognised forms of academic giftedness. This piece of research examines the incorporation of the gifted learning model Operation Houndstooth within the setting of a primary school environmental programme in order to meet the learning needs of a group emotionally gifted students. The project was initiated after observing the capacity of the New Zealand Enviro Schools programme as a learning vehicle to allow this group of gifted learners the opportunity to participate in a problem solving process within the Operation Houndstooth model. Houndstooth itself derives from the Enrichment Triad Model for learning and is the work of the American educational psychologist Joseph Renzulli. The Houndstooth model has been designed to extend the co-cognitive skills of each gifted learner. The programme itself was conducted within a primary school environment in which the researcher was employed as a teacher and the participants were members of the senior classes. The research was carried out as a qualitative study with a single-case study placed alongside action research. The completion of the project saw the emergence of a group of students who had developed their confidence as efficient communicators and capable problem solvers. The study argues for the development of gifted programmes that recognise emotional giftedness within the New Zealand primary school setting which incorporates Renzulli’s Houndstooth as a delivery model.