2021 SWAT

The current models of gifted and talented education have always been based on the established curriculum designed on the parameters set by the standards in many western countries. While the concepts and ideas are relevant and proven, a Muslim gifted institution must take other considerations in the policy and implementation aspects to cater to the needs of gifted Muslim community. While main goal of gifted education is the student’s intelligent and talent development, the gifted Muslim student has additional areas of development that must be taken into consideration. Many mainstream gifted education models stress on the high academic performers or strong STEM-inclined individuals who displayed strong interest and academic achievement in science subjects. The Muslim gifted students have additional parameters such as religious inclination and interest combined with the Quran memorisation, hadith and Islamic references understanding. This study examines the existing literature on gifted and talented education models and adopts some core elements for the conceptualization of gifted curriculum for Muslim students, focusing on the fundamental elements of Islamic education philosophy. Applying qualitative method, the existing literature are reviewed systematically, and their educational philosophies analysed and compared. Based on the review and analysis, this paper proposes a conceptual framework on the integrated model of existing gifted philosophies from the western and Islamic perspective. The discussion has been framed specifically around the design and implementation of gifted and talented education in Malaysia. This paper will offer a guide to the development of integrated curriculum model – one which is based on the existing models both on the Western and Islamic ideas on gifted education. For gifted institutions adopting this guideline, it will serve as a working policy and implementation framework.

Students for gifted program are usually selected using the traditional methods of identification (i.e., IQ and standardized achievement tests). Even for Malaysia gifted education program known as GENIUS program, the established methods such as intelligence tests are the yardstick for selecting students who are identified as gifted. GENIUS Insan, however, is a program that requires the gifted students to not only achieve high score in the standardized intelligence test, but also display the ability to memorize verses of Quran and recite them according to the correct tajweed (rules of Quran recitation). The students are also required to memorize the verses in a specific given amount of time. This study analyzed the identification process for gifted Muslim students for the 2021 cohort of KOLEJ GENIUS INSAN, USIM in using Quran memorization as a method in identifying the qualified students for the program. The process involved a group of 232 candidates who had managed to score 130 marks and above in the standardized intelligence tests known as UKM1 and UKM2. These students were later tested individually for their ability to memorize and recite the selected verses pre-arranged for them. Those who fulfilled the criteria set by the college were offered to join the program at Kolej GENIUS Insan. Analyzing and understanding the data of the selection process and the outcome of the organized memorization test would help address the need to improve the identification method and make this selection process an effective way in drafting gifted and talented Muslim students to Kolej GENIUS Insan, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.