Honouring Professor Don McAlpine

As we reflect on the history of gifted education in Aotearoa New Zealand, Don McAlpine stands as one of the scholars who helped lay its intellectual and practical foundations.

Through his work as an academic, teacher educator, and editor of seminal New Zealand texts on gifted and talented education, Professor McAlpine helped bring clarity, legitimacy, and rigour to a field that was once fragmented and marginalised. His contributions supported educators and decision-makers to recognise giftedness as a valid educational need - not an exception or luxury, but a responsibility.

Looking back

Looking back, we see how his scholarship bridged theory and practice. 

By grounding gifted education in research while remaining attentive to classroom realities, he helped shape professional learning, curriculum thinking, and early programme development across the country. 

Many of today’s approaches - differentiated practice, attention to social and emotional wellbeing, and teacher capability building - trace their roots to this early work.

Looking forward 

Looking forward, Professor McAlpine’s legacy challenges us to continue what he began: to ensure gifted education evolves with changing understandings of diversity, culture, and equity, while remaining anchored in evidence and thoughtful practice. 

His work reminds us that progress is built not on reinvention alone, but on learning from those who established the path.

During Gifted Awareness Week, Looking Back to Move Forward, we honour Don McAlpine for helping give gifted education in Aotearoa both a history and a direction - and we re-commit to carrying that work forward for future generations of learners.