Successful Tongan Students in New Zealand Secondary Schools: Default or Design?

Abstract

This article outlines the use of Gagne’s (2008) Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT) as applied to Tongan secondary school students in New Zealand. Two case studies of Tongan young women are shared with a particular emphasis on the influence of catalysts, the chance factor, and developmental processes upon the development of their gifts to talents. The article explains the Tongan way, a conceptual map for developing better understandings of Tongan gifted and talented students in New Zealand. The article concludes that the Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent is a framework teachers can use to explore giftedness with Pasifika families, communities, and students to assist in better understanding their special abilities, qualities, and needs.