It seems that traditional education has somehow have an undefined love/hate relationship with gifted students.  But on the other hand, gifted students are much preferred and well-liked.  Why not when their scores tend to raise the average and they are easier to teach. But it is also a fact that to reach their full potential, they will also need special circumstances. They need things that might be difficult to attain in traditional classroom.

Gifted students are expected to be exceptionally across the board.  They can be accused of being lazy or not trying then they are not as exceptional in all subjects. The fact is that gifted students often have asynchronous abilities.  This is the reason why teachers should understand that gifted students might be grades ahead in one subject, but on level or even behind in other subjects.

It is crucial that teachers adapt their expectations. It does not always follow that a gifted student is easy to teach or is always cooperative.  Teachers’ expectations should not cause the gifted student more stress.  For instance, teachers might expect a gifted student will automatically do great on tests, go to college, and achieve full scholarships.  This should not be so because being a gifted student does not mean that his/her desire will be to follow that plan for their future.

Since traditional classroom models would cater to teach the masses meaning that at best, the curriculum is geared to the average student, it can be hard to accommodate gifted students because they do not behave or learn like the average student, or the below average student.  Recently, there have been models that would cater to the lowest ability students, like the No Child Left Behind model. Where does this place the gifted student then?

What happens is that the traditional system will lose a gifted student because that student is frustrated and bored.  Worse, they are paired with students who need extra help making some to thrive in the situation while others become even more frustrated as they are forced to share responsibility for another student’s success.  It is high time to allow the gifted student to soar where they can then or the totally waste the “gift” in them.

By: Charito R. Balagasay | Teacher III | Pilar Elementary School | Pilar, Bataan