Several possibilities, depending on the child. All or none or some may apply in a given situation, and as a caveat, I'll add that assisting a teacher isn't the only way that some of these problems might crop up. But I don't think the situation would help.
1) Most importantly, is the child allowed to learn, or is s/he just a teacher's assistant? If you never get to learn, you don't learn how to learn. It might be fun to do part of the teacher's job, but is it actually helping the child learn anything?
2) Social issues. Other kids don't always like the teacher's pet. Or it's possible that the child will become more of adult (both to him/herself and to the other kids) because of being in a position of authority and won't connect with classmates. It can encourage perfectionism and even a sense of being somehow better than other kids that isn't a healthy pride. "I'm special" doesn't always play well with people, for good reason...
3) Not all GT kids are good teachers. If learning comes easily to them, will they be able to tell someone else who is struggling how to learn that same material? Teaching is a skill. It can be learned, but a child may not yet have learned it. That can make it hard for the other child to learn and can feel uncomfortable or even like failure to the GT child. And a frustrated kid can say mean things to the child who is struggling, purely out of frustration and self-doubt and too much power. It can be a lot to put on BOTH children.
4) It can lead to/reinforce a child's need for external pats to feel validated. Unless the teacher gives a seal of approval, the child may feel like the work or the success or the *learning* isn't good enough. I think this is different from perfectionism in that it's not coming from within. It's about not feeling self-worth unless an authority figure grants it.
I could probably come up with more, but that's a start.
I'd add that there's a difference between being helpful and being a second teacher. Most kids like to be helpful, and that's why classes for young kids have line-leaders and door-holders. Kids like to do jobs at that age and that's perfectly normal and fine and should be encouraged. But it's the systemic treating of a GT child as a second teacher that's problematic. After I wrote, I realized that's an important distinction to make!
Last edited by Kriston; 01/05/10 08:59 PM. Reason: added last paragraph.
