A Brilliant Future for Brilliant Minds: Promoting Talented Students’ Development

Student body diversity in schools can be wide-ranging, so it is in every classroom. Often, the only thing uniting students is their similar ages and school grades. However, besides differences in physical appearance and personal experiences, students can differ profoundly in their cognitive abilities.

Most students are in the loop regarding daily classroom learning. Still, some may need help with a determined subject and get it from peers or teachers to improve their understanding. Yet, others are the learners who are one step (or several) ahead of the class with a deeper, broader perspective and different attitudes towards what’s taught in class: these are the intellectually gifted students.

“Neither race, culture, nor social level determine their [gifted students’] existence; rather, the influence of the environment is decisive, producing a positive or negative influence on them.” (Albes et al., 2013)

Besides families or guardians responsible for their children’s environment, teachers are also vital to the development of these gifted students. Many instructors may feel confused or alarmed because they do not know how to instruct them, and most schools have no specialized programs for these students. However, there are ways for teachers to guide their integral development that suit their abilities; despite being extremely intelligent, these students need to be accompanied like any others, regardless of their intellectual capabilities. Leaving them to fend for themselves just because they are “smart” could have negative repercussions throughout their lives.

Characteristics of students with high intellectual abilities

Gifted students may not be evident at first glance; some may be participative and enthusiastic about getting involved in class and have good grades, while others can have bad grades and pessimistic attitudes toward education.

One notable characteristic is that these gifted students suffer from asynchronous development, where their extraordinary cognitive abilities do not align with their social and emotional skills; the more intellectually outstanding they are, the more significant the gap between these abilities. However, for some children, as they grow, these social and emotional competencies catch up with the intellectual ones until they are aligned, although others can attain adulthood without developing such skills.

Some characteristics of intellectually gifted children are:

• An extensive vocabulary for their age.
• Abilities to learn and process information faster than their peers.
• Usually perfectionists.
• Can focus attention and concentrate.
• Necessity to explore specific topics in depth.
• Able to self-teach easily.
• Usually, they have particular interests.
• Requirement of continuous mental stimulation.
• Able to face new situations smoothly and adapt to change quickly.
• Sensitivity and manifestation of emotional intensity.

However, good advice from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) is to apply an early exam on the content to be covered throughout the school year. Besides giving a general idea of the class’s knowledge, this will sift gifted students, making it easier to identify them.

Encouraging social and emotional development

Having identified one or more students with these abilities, it is crucial to understand that despite being more intellectually advanced than their classmates, these students have the same emotional needs as the rest and should be cared for the same way.

“Supporting their [gifted students’] social and emotional growth is just as important as challenging them academically.” – Lisa Van Gemert, educator.

Gifted students are usually more sensitive, have a deeper understanding of their environment, and are very empathetic with a strong sense of justice. Many may be perfectionists or feel pressured to meet others’ expectations, making them susceptible to frustration and disappointment. Being more intellectually advanced than other children, gifted students have more complex thoughts and perceptions than usual, which can manifest through intense emotions, resulting in many mistaking them for signs of immaturity. Therefore, teachers must recognize and accept their feelings as they would with other students, understanding that it’s due to their asynchronous development.

The social development of these students must also be considered. Unfortunately, many are bullied because of their intelligence or the way they express themselves, and they can be excluded from social circles within the classroom. Moreover, by having other interests, gifted students sometimes aren’t able to communicate with their classmates, which decreases their chances of creating social relationships with people their age and can increase their anxiety and insecurity.

Instructors usually think gifted students would be excellent tutors for those struggling with particular subjects, but this is not a good idea. Grouping students at different intellectual levels can be exasperating and even tedious for the students involved. Teachers must remember that, gifted or not, every student must be guided through their academic journey and should not be replacing an expert’s role. For collaborative work, it is essential to group these students with others who have the same or similar abilities so that they can develop more advanced solutions that are appropriate to their intellect.

How to support them academically?

Like a boy or girl who is good at swimming and requires specialized training to excel in the sport, gifted students must train their minds and be continuously cognitively challenged to cultivate their intellectualism. Giving them additional homework should be avoided because students may find it demotivating to receive repetitive work assignments, feeling that it is tedious or never-ending. Receiving more classwork than other classmates can be counterproductive because it discourages and demotivates them.

Instead, teachers can commission a project that delves deeper into what was taught in class or assign a topic that the students are passionate about, which they can carry out at their own pace. Similarly, letting them do other tasks in advance could also help them avoid boredom by allowing them to remain at the same learning pace as their classmates.

Adding to the previous idea, teachers should encourage students to use different information sources, not just rely on a single book or resource. This will allow students to delve into their topics of interest with reliable tools they can utilize if needed, promoting their self-teaching. Bloom’s taxonomy, a very useful schema for visualizing the content of the subject to be taught, can quickly identify steps that a gifted student can likely skip. They usually go faster through the first three steps (remembering, learning, and applying). Then, they may no longer need instruction and must go into the deeper thinking stages (analyzing, evaluating, and creating). Using this model, teachers can redesign lower-level tasks, adapting them to higher levels for students with gifted intellectual abilities.

Communicating and working with the families or guardians of gifted children is essential. Knowing their behaviors and interests outside of class is valuable for understanding them and detecting signs of frustration and exhaustion; then, both parties can engage in a dialogue to develop strategies to resolve their discomforts. Most teachers will not be able to create a personalized learning plan for each student in the classroom. Still, they can guide caregivers on additional programs, courses, or materials that reinforce these students’ learning and integral development.

Finally, communication is essential for students to get to know themselves and be aware of their abilities, advantages, and disadvantages to appease thoughts or feelings of inadequacy or not fitting in with others. Self-awareness promotes curiosity and motivation to learn more. Gifted students need a positive, understanding environment to cultivate their abilities. Parents and teachers are crucial for their emotional, social, and academic development. This way, their skills will flourish, and they can safely go through their educational careers for a bright future where their talents can shine.

Translated by Daniel Wetta

Mariana Sofía Jiménez Nájera

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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0