Photo By: Northern Ireland Executive
A student may show signs of being gifted from a very early age. For instance, they may be a very good reader or be extraordinarily articulate and able to converse intelligently with people who are much older than them. Alternatively, a child may have a special ‘knack’ for numbers but only appear to be of average intelligence in other academic areas. Some children may also show an aptitude for sports or be very artistic. This makes defining the word ‘gifted’ very difficult, as skills and degrees of ‘giftedness’ will vary from child to child.
One definition of ‘gifted’ comes from the Javits Act and explains it as;
“children and youths who give evidence of higher performance capability in such areas as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the schools in order to develop such capabilities fully.”
If you are a parent of a ‘gifted’ child or teach a highly-able student in your class, you may think to yourself, ‘wow, that’s one smart kid, Happy Days!’ But of course it’s not as simple as that. According to this report, gifted children are at risk of becoming bored with mainstream classes, because they’re too easy. This may cause them to lose focus and enthusiasm for learning as whole.
So you can see that helping ‘gifted’ pupils reach their full potential is just as important as helping pupils who are struggling with learning difficulties, and both deserve special attention. But further, pupils who identify themselves as average in attainment also benefit from carrying out educational exercises that pushes their knowledge to the very limits, as this naturalistic study of a group of Ethiopian children given laptops and tablets, demonstrates.
Problems with being a gifted child
We tend to assume that ‘smart kids’ have it easy, but of course they don’t. Typically these children, if identified as being highly intelligent, may start to put pressure on themselves to strive for perfection in everything. Making mistakes, then, becomes very painful for them and may start to affect their self-esteem.
Also, in mainstream schools, children who identify themselves as highly intelligent may not want to stand out so much, for fear of being bullied. These children may then conform to the level of their classmates and become underachievers. Boredom can also be a destructive cognitive state in some cases as it may cause the child to start being sarcastic to the teacher or show other signs of ‘acting out.’Finally, children who are gifted but are not pushed don’t feel the pleasure in achievement and may therefore forget to push themselves outside of school.
This remainder of this article will therefore outline some tips for keeping Key Stage Four pupils who demonstrate high ability motivated and engaged at this most crucial point in their education.
Raise their self-esteem
Having above-average intelligence, doesn’t make you any more confident – especially when you’re a teenager! That’s why teachers should do all they can to create a supportive learning environment in their classrooms for everybody.
Let them know that it is okay to fail because, in some cases, failing at something makes you learn better for next time. So if you do want to push your high ability learners you could try deliberately setting a task you know they will fail, just so they can take the lessons learnt from failure on for next time.
You can also create a positive, non-judgemental atmosphere in your classroom by rewarding contributions in class based on the pupil’s ability to ‘think outside the box’ –even if the insight seems to be highly unusual, or a little off-topic. Additionally, you could also develop an ethos in your school that champions these gifted pupils, but don’t forget to regularly inform the pupil’s parents on their successes in school, which you may want to do through the use of these merit postcards.
Challenge the high-attaining pupils
Setting differentiated homework and classwork for those who are ahead of the learning curve is another way teachers can push their high-attaining students. But please note; differentiated work doesn’t just mean ‘more of the same.’ For example, boring the bright students with just 10 more difficult sums in a maths class will not inspire them to try their best, and they will not benefit from re-hashing concepts they already understand.
Instead, teachers should try and set these pupils a learning objective which in some way supplements the content of the lesson, but takes the lesson further. For example, if you’re a geography teacher and you are setting the rest of your class an online research task on a particular country’s culture, then you may want to try setting your high-attaining pupils a presentation task that concentrates on some of the historical background that relates to the cultural norms. That way, the pupil will benefit from an in depth assignment which utilises their presentation skills and the rest of the class will benefit from hearing more about what they’re studying from a different point of view.
Give them choices
By setting up a learning contract with your highly able students you can set them SMART targets (i.e. Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-orientated) which push them in areas where their talent can thrive. Doing this makes the students accountable for their learning and you can get them to concentrate on areas of study in which they are inspired to learn and do their best in. Don’t forget to reward these pupils when they reach these specific goals, as the pupil will benefit from the extrinsic motivation of seeing their hard work recognised.
Encourage their Ambition
Ensure that your school has adequate information and advice available for pupils who have ambitions to attend leading universities. Figures from Ofsted say that this is especially important for pupils who may be first generation university applicants or who are eligible for free school meals, as it will help to breakdown some of the cultural and financial obstacles that can hinder university applications.
Having provisions for fast-tracking pupils who show enough potential to sit their formal examinations early is another great way to ensure that these gifted pupils are making the most of their time at school. Identifying pupils who have the potential to sit their GCSE’s and A Levels a year in advance can be done through the use of detailed assessments, as early in Year 9. Ofsted also recommends having specialist practitioners available to these students in the same way that pupils with learning difficulties receive extra help and support.
For more on outstanding lesson planning, check out this resource for Key Stage Four, and if you have any further comments on engaging highly able pupils, then please share your ideas below.