Rosemary Keighley PHD

After graduating with First Class Honours in Education from the University of Sydney, Australia, I worked in policy formulation and management in the public sector for several years, and then as a management consultant.

My interest in education, and specifically education of the gifted, began as a result of my own experiences as a child in a special district class for gifted children.  My experiences made me very aware of the unintended consequences which can result from an educational policy.  Although I achieved first place in the district gifted class both years I attended, it was not a positive experience for me.  However, it did give me first-hand insight into many of the complex issues involved in the education of gifted children, and some of the attempts made to deal with them.

When the government announced yet another gifted education policy I felt that something needed to be done to include the gifted themselves in the policy-making process.

My experience in public policy development and implementation had taught me that the best, most effective policies and practices are based on the perspectives and needs of those for whom they are intended – gained by consulting directly with those people: it had also taught me that this is not often the case.

The voice of the gifted needed to be heard.  My doctoral research, also through the University of Sydney, was born of this need.  I did not know whether it would be a collective voice or many individual voices: whether my own experiences were unique, or whether there would be common threads, and if so, how strong those threads would be.

I chose a research methodology which would allow the greatest scope to the gifted to present their perspectives in as free and complete a way as possible: in-depth interviewing of gifted adults and children.

Please see details of the research conducted as part of my PhD.

After receiving my PhD in Education from the University of Sydney I continued working as an education consultant.

My research informs every aspect of my work: with families and with schools.

I am in the process of developing a book which will be a practical resource for families and teachers, utilising many of the insights I gained from my research with gifted adults and children.