6 Myths About Gifted and Talented Students
Myth 1: Gifted students are good at everything!
This simply isn’t true! When I asked my daughter’s pre-primary teacher if she thought she could be gifted (not a question I asked lightly) she said “no, because she isn’t good at everything.” Boy was she wrong! Formal assessment later showed her to be gifted. She has an incredibly advanced reading age. Is she good at everything? Nope. Gifted students are more likely to have things they are really good at, and areas where they struggle. In the areas that they struggle, they may just seem average. Gifted students have different strengths and weaknesses and they tend to have very particular interests.
Myth 2: Gifted students are motivated and love school work.
Many gifted students underachieve. Especially if they have experienced many years of schooling where they have been bored, and the classroom has lacked daily challenge. When gifted students have to repeat concepts they have already mastered, they can experience frustration and disengagement. They may also feel misunderstood by their teacher and peers. Often gifted students are lacking like-minded peers at school. Other reasons for underachievement may be that students are masking their abilities in order to try and fit in socially with their same age peers, or they may have a learning disability that masks their giftedness.
Myth 3: Gifted students will succeed anyway.
Often people think that gifted students will succeed anyway (because they’re gifted). Whilst gifted students do have an extraordinary level of potential, this needs to be developed in order for it to turn into talent. Would you leave a talented athlete to coach themselves? Gifted students need guidance from well-trained teachers, otherwise their potential can be wasted. Gifted students have specific learning needs that require a special education program otherwise they are at educational risk as much as a student at the other end of the scale might be. In fact, gifted students whose learning needs are not met are at a higher risk of dropping out of high school before the end of year 12 (Rimm, 2008b). The role of a teacher is crucial in nurturing the talents of gifted students. Find some great resources to challenge your gifted students here.
Myth 4: Grouping gifted students creates elitism.
Grouping gifted students together is vitally important to their social and emotional wellbeing. Gifted students need to be around other like-minded peers. Kids who ‘get them’ and they can be themselves around. They need an academic environment where they can be themselves and not feel as though they need to ‘dumb themselves down’. Research shows that gifted students benefit from spending their time with other gifted learners (Rogers, 2002b). This enables them to connect with other learners who are “like minded”, who think and feel in a similar way to themselves, allowing them to feel understood and accepted (Henderson, 2007).
Myth 5: Gifted students can’t have a learning disability
Gifted students make up 10% of the population. They are a diverse range of students. 2-5% of the gifted population are considered twice exceptional (2e) (Fine, 2011). That means that they are gifted and have a high potential for achievement, and they also have a learning disability or difficulty such as autism or ADHD.
Myth 6: Gifted students are all high achievers.
Not all gifted students are high achievers. There are lots of reasons why a gifted student might underachieve, even in areas of strength. This could be because a student is twice exceptional (gifted with a learning disability or difficulty). It could be that the student is bored or disengaged with the school system. Perhaps they suffer from perfectionism and/or anxiety. There are many reasons a gifted student might underachieve, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be gifted.
