Is there a Gap in Our Understanding? Gifted vs High-Achieving Students

Day 3 of the giftEDnz October Blog Challenge.

The Truth About Gifted Versus High-Achieving Students

Gifted students have it easy - right? They're well-organised, popular, are our natural leaders, a dream to learn and teach with, often the go-to person in the classroom and they always get the best marks. Right? No.  They don't.  These are our high-ability students and there IS a difference.  This is such a misconception and it puts our gifted students on the back foot right from the time they enter the classroom.  If they've been identified at some point and then don't meet teacher expectations there can be a break down in relationships, both with their teachers and their peers and the damage done to self-esteem and identity can be hard to rectify.

So what do we need to do as teachers?  I've thought about this a lot over the years.  Some of this thinking is based on research, reflection and my own learning but some thinking is also based on the gut instinct we develop as teachers. Here are my thoughts:

1. Don't assume 

I love this quote from Alan Alda - “Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won’t come in.” ~ Alan Alda, actor

The student that struggles with reading and writing could still be a gifted writer. They just need a different platform to share their ideas.  That student who's 'always in trouble' could also be a gifted student who is showing his or her frustration in a different way.  The autistic student could be the next top computer programmer. Sometimes our assumptions that a student CAN'T do something can cloud our ability to see what they CAN do.

For more on this, please read this powerful post...

Scrubbing Our Assumptions About Our Students

2. Don't read the report comments from the last teacher/school until well into the first term

This might be controversial but it's honest and not meant to offend.
By all means, respect the basic data/professional judgements and anything essential but we all know that personalities come into play in learning and teaching.  That student that "...has not reached his/her potential...' could just need a different teacher with a different perspective. We can't be precious about this. It's just a fact of life and it's normal.  If we see it as any other way then we might just miss that gifted student who just needs a fresh start or that new perspective.

3. Know our students as people first - students second

Who is this awesome person in our room - what makes them tick?  I used to get my students to write to me on the topic of "What I wish my teacher knew about me."  It was one of the most powerful learning activities I've ever done.  It gives you a real insight into who these amazing human beings are.

What I Wish My Teacher Knew About Me

4. Be open to possibilities - be open to the possibility that a student may be gifted.

This links in with not making assumptions.  We need to address our assumptions in terms of gifted students coming from so many different

5. Listen, observe and question

Teachers are great at talking - I am very much guilty as charged in this respect but many years ago I was reading about the power of listening in the classroom and it really changed how I interacted with my students.  It's still very much a work in progress because I can't help myself but it was amazing what I picked up by being quiet and just listening and observing.

Listening Is a Teacher's Most Powerful Tool

6. Surround yourself with as much knowledge as possible.

This is sometimes not as easy as it sounds.  Teachers are under so much pressure to raise achievement levels of students who are below the expected level, deal with a myriad of neurodiverse students and meet all the other administrative requirements of their profession. This is where our gifted students often fall between the cracks if we're not careful.  We can make sure this doesn't happen by learning from others asynchronously through our online professional learning networks (PLN) as well as in more formal learning situations.  There is a myriad of groups and pages where information can be found on learning and teaching with our gifted students.  Just a few are linked below...

Gifted and Talented Teachers (NZ)
giftEDnz - new website coming soon
NZCGE - New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education
NZAGC - New Zealand Association for Gifted Children
REACH - Specialists in Gifted Education
TKI - Gifted and Talented
Hogies' Gifted Education Page
SENG - Social and Emotional Needs of the Gifted

7. Question what you observe.

Always question what you are seeing and hearing.  This is not second-guessing or self-doubt.  It is part of being a reflective and reflexive practitioner. 
Two common models are the Gibbs Reflective Cycle Model (1988) and Kolb's Reflective Practice Model (1984)

Image Source: ELN

Image Source: Nicole Brown - excellent explanation on her page

If you suspect that a student may be gifted utilise your PLN, your colleagues, the student's whānau and other resources to help with identification. Be clear in your own mind that there is a difference between gifted and high-achieving students so that your gifted students aren't missed. It is a question of equity in education that the needs of our gifted students are met.