Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Children as teachers in public education?

My DD was asked to do this in kindergarten and it was not a big success.

One particular concern I have with this is that I think it is often tried with gifted girls, on the theory that they like to "help." Here we go, reinforcing that that is the way girls are supposed to be (pat on the head, what a good girl) and meanwhile, their own intellectual gifts can go ahead and wither on the vine. Or, alternatively, if they are NOT good at it, as DD was not (she is not the mother hen type), then there may be an unsaid, but still present message of "What is your problem that you don't know how to do this thing? Why CAN'T you mother-hen like a good girl should?"

It's true that teaching others is a great way to reinforce skills. However, there are other ways to have them do this. I am very interested in closing the education gap, but this particular method is a little too much social engineering for me.