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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 412
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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?
Mom to DS12 and DD3
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Very interesting! I can see it. Certainly there's something subconscious going on in some teachers, and the fear of an "evil genius" or at least a child whom the teacher can't control makes as much sense as anything I can think of.
I have to think about this some more...
Kriston
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The major cause of such negative affect is a deep concern about potential antisocial applications of the intelligence of gifted students, It would be interesting to cross-correlate the teachers' attitudes to their personality types. Can the teacher deal with new and novel situations? Or do they prefer status quo? Are they results oriented or like to follow procedures? What is meant by anti-social? Since the teacher is the source of "order" in the room, the real threat is to the teacher's authority. Many GT kids are natural leaders and if the teacher does not harness the leadership skills of this kid, then they will be at odds. One of my nephews is definitely GT. Give me a group of kids and they are playing quietly, etc. Add him to the mix, and the energy level of the room just explodes. I realized that he was a natural leader and now include him in planning the days activities, and thing go MUCH smoother.
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What is meant by anti-social? Since the teacher is the source of "order" in the room, the real threat is to the teacher's authority. I think this is definitely on possibility. It may be as simply as an inquisitive child, who is always asking why, disturbing the perceived structure of the learning environment (as opposed to an open learning environment where questions create the structure)? Or it may be that the teachers are unfamiliar with the asynchronous development of highly gifted kids? They therefore assume that if a child is advanced in reading or math, then they should be advanced in all other areas and measure them accordingly. What I found particularly interesting is that they could reduce this type of negative feeling towards gifted kids by educating the teachers on the characteristics of gifted kids and their learning needs! Where do we sign our teachers up? 
Mom to DS12 and DD3
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This doesn't explain why, even though I was a very quiet, compliant child, a few of my teachers clearly felt a lot of animosity towards me.
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We all know it's a problem. We've all had some experience with this either with ourself, relative, spouse, child.
Even if the training became uniformly mandatory, the teacher most "guilty" is going to resent attentding and blow it off.
Or worse.....not even understand it and misapply what they "learn"
There's a reason why theoretically vs. realistically is a popular phrase.
What is the solution?
((shrug))
p.s. as a member of NACG I receive gifted child quarterly as well as parenting for potential.....well worth it IMNSHO
Last edited by incogneato; 08/21/08 08:54 AM. Reason: add p.s.
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I have it. PM me with your e-mail address if you want a PDF.
Val
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p.s. as a member of NACG I receive gifted child quarterly as well as parenting for potential.....well worth it IMNSHO Thanks, 'Neato. I think I'll look into it. I've been to their web site several times, and it is probably about time that I join.  I'm too much of a theoretical/optimistic thinker, I guess. I just keep thinking that somewhere out there is a solution to gifted education. Some body of research will suddenly be found that will make everyone say "Ah ha!", and immediately support these HG+ kids. So please allow me my delusions.  At least for a few more years.
Mom to DS12 and DD3
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The major cause of such negative affect is a deep concern about potential antisocial applications of the intelligence of gifted students, What is meant by anti-social? Since the teacher is the source of "order" in the room, the real threat is to the teacher's authority. The article addresses this question precisely: it says that high ability in athletics is a form of social compliance, while high intellect is seen as a selfish endeavor involving social noncompliance. And you're right about challenging teacher's authority. What they don't realize is that the problem would get better if Little Johnny had some stimulating work. The article makes a lot of good points that could be useful when advocating. Val
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The article addresses this question precisely: it says that high ability in athletics is a form of social compliance, while high intellect is seen as a selfish endeavor involving social noncompliance. This is very interesting...do they speculate why this is the case? Is this culturally dependent?
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