Learning to Educate the Gifted

In many classes across the globe, students who are gifted in any or all subjects are rare. The educational system is not based on their abilities, and the level of education taught is based on what the average student can accomplish. For many of those who find they have a gifted student, the challenges to keep them engaged and learning can be enormous. It might seem as if they could be left to their own devices as the rest of the class attempts to catch them, but this is far from the truth.

One of the main problems of gifted students is being mis-labelled by teachers, and it is often due to the fact they fail to pay attention in class. Young students often need concepts explained several times, and a gifted student will be quickly bored by repetition. They tend to tune out or daydream their way through class, and they do not have the answer when the teacher calls on them because they have not been attentive. Failure to answer questions on a regular basis often results in labelling, and there are educators who fail to understand they should be looking at test scores rather than participation.

Gifted students often find their classes boring, and they are generally young enough to be unable to cope with the situation like a mature person. teachers who label them can be frustrated, and many school systems are not set up to deal with their particular learning issues. Segregating them in a class with advanced learning is not always seen as a good solution by either the educational system or their parents.

One of the most difficult things for the teacher of a gifted student to do is to keep them engaged in the learning process, and those who have recognized the issue can still struggle with it. They want their student to continue learning, but keeping up with them can become more of a struggle for the educator than the student.