I found this article from Gifted Child Quarterly on the web recently and thought it might be interesting to share. I can only view the abstract, unfortunately, and not the full article without playing a subscription fee. I have been tempted in the past to subscribe to Gifted Child Quarterly, and was curious if anyone else had perused their literature.
I had always wondered why the gifted teacher in DS's school was not his biggest fan, to put it mildly. She continually points out his faults and flaws, which are mainly social and behavioral, and downplays his academic strengths. She seems to expect gifted kids to be very passive, quiet learners and not the overly active little boys who need to challenge or question everything in order to learn.
Any thoughts on the subject?
http://gcq.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/52/3/217Gifted Child Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 3, 217-231 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0016986208319704
Teachers' Negative Affect Toward Academically Gifted Students
An Evolutionary Psychological Study
John G. Geake
Oxford Brookes University
Miraca U. M. Gross
University of New South Wales, Australia
A frequent reason for teachers not making special provisions for a gifted child is that the child is "not fitting in socially." The conjecture that a psychological source of such negative affect has evolved along with human language was tested with a large sample (N = 377) of teachers in England, Scotland, and Australia who were undertaking continuing professional development (CPD) in gifted education. Quantitative indicators of teachers' subconscious feelings toward gifted children were measured using a five-dimensional semantic differential instrument. Oblique factor analysis produced a three-factor structure, namely, general characteristics of gifted children including high cognitive abilities, social misfits, and antisocial leaders. Teachers' negative affect toward gifted children concerns the potential use of high intelligence toward social noncompliance. The factor scores for teachers completing the CPD programs were lower for the social noncompliance factors and higher for the general factor compared with scores of teachers commencing the programs.
Putting the Research to Use: The results of this research can be used by designers and presenters of teacher professional development (PD) programs in gifted education to address implicit negative attitudes of teachers toward gifted students. The major cause of such negative affect is a deep concern about potential antisocial applications of the intelligence of gifted students, and this should be made explicit to PD participants. The results show that teachers' unconscious negative attitudes can be reduced through PD courses in which teachers become more familiar with the characteristics of gifted students and their learning needs. In future PD programs, teachers could be asked to reflect on their personal responses to questions based on this research: Are gifted students potential social misfits? Are gifted students disrespectful of authority? Are gifted students sensitive to the feelings of others? Could gifted students use their intelligence for antisocial leadership? Would gifted students make good schoolteachers?
