ABSTRACT
Ask any group of people, professional or lay, what they consider the most appropriate context for educating the gifted and talented and you will almost certainly encounter a dramatic division of opinion. Those who have witnessed or participated in such debates can also attest to how adamantly positions are held and how vehemently these can be expressed. Few issues in education seem to elicit such strongly held opinions. Debate about whether gifted and talented students should be educated with their age peers or their intellectual peers usually touches on much broader philosophical, political, social and even religious beliefs. The various perspectives espoused, even in professional circles, are usually done so without reference to research, or else to a very limited number of very contextspecific studies. This is not altogether surprising, as the research base here is limited, both in number and nature. This means that those endorsing one approach over another usually draw on their own values and experiences in defending their stance. In addition, much of the research (and opinion) in this area comes out of the United States, and informs and is informed by approaches to learning and teaching that frequently have limited applicability beyond that context.
