Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion potential versus performance

I know this is a question I often hear around the place. "If a child is gifted and other children aren't, why is their academic performance better than the gifted child?"
I was wondering if anybody had any ideas on this and if their are any articles out their relating to this. We have quite a few gifted children at our school and especially in the years my children are in, pretty much there are a heap of other students in those years that are performing alot better than our children. I am referring to lower primary, not sure if this makes a difference.

Boredom. Lack of challenge. Lack of peer support. Lack of teacher support! Interests above and beyond the curriculum. Take your pick and mix...more will be along later i'm sure

And....

Because when your brain is only partially engaged in a task, it's easier to make errors--vs. when you are working in "zone of proximal development" where the work is just difficult enough to require complete attention.

Because when you "know" the answer but have to show your work, you can become very confused (try swinging a baseball bat in little tiny steps instead of one fluid swing--you'll probably miss the ball).

Because when you're used to "knowing" and you are presented with something unknown, you are likely to say "I don't know" rather than to make the guess and risk being wrong.

Because you might not finish your work if you can't keep your mind on it, and it's hard to keep your mind on something that doesn't take you anywhere "new".

Because maybe the other kids are good linear, step by step learners and you think your way must be "wrong" because no one else does it that way--and because when you try to do it their way it doesn't make sense (it's routine based, not concept based) and so you make a lot of mistakes or say you can't do it.

Because you don't know that you are supposed to elaborate on your answer and no one asks you to--they just take it at face value. But students who have been working in zpd have gotten feedback as they've made errors along the way, and they have learned to elaborate/explain what they mean.

(sigh)

Thankyou for the imput. So is it safe to assume that if the environment is ideal a GT child should perform better than a non-GT child or is it a case of potential vrs intelligence ie Does high IQ mean actual intellect or the ability to understand information presented. We are often told at our school that just because a child is gifted does not mean they will perform well or be sitting at the top of the class. Based on the results that are appearing at our school this appears to be the case, we are having a difficult time accepting this. Are we incorrect? The only way the GT children are able to keep up with the pack so to speak is by lots of parental guidance at home, not only with year curriculum but with above year curriculum also. Please help we are very confused and are questioning our beliefs on what giftedness actually is

I think it is safe to assume that all other things being equal, a gifted child will be able to perform higher level work than a normally developing child in the gifted child's area of giftedness. That does NOT mean that a gifted child will perform better at the same work as a normally developing child. Often if the work is too easy, a gifted child will not feel motivated to complete it diligently. And a child may be gifted in some areas but not others, or have interests in some areas but not others.

Of course, many gifted children have other issues as well. I think the bottom line for teachers probably shouldn't be whether a child is technically "gifted," but rather what sort of curriculum and teaching will suit that child the best. After all, all kids are different.

My son got a poor grade in Science. A large part of the assessment was adaptation - seals in the Arctic, camels in the desert etc;. The little'un was interested in Darwin and genetic mutation. Of course grade 3 doesn't cover this - he won't cover this until maybe year 3 seniors - by which time he will probably be switched off because nobody is interested at this level in his ideas or questions.

This question is why I did not realize my DD was gifted. She looked like a high achiever to me. I was very surprised when I found out her IQ, because I knew that some of her "higher achieving" classmates did not get into the gifted program.
~ I have now learned that it is my child�s intense curiosity and ability to rapidly process information which makes her gifted & that true academic ability is not reflected in grade level tests. She can work and understand concepts way above her grade level but that does not mean she knows the proper school protocol for the answer.

Love this comment!

That is SO well said. I actually wonder if gifted children are LESS likely to understand the protocols, because they get less constructive feedback (from early on everything they do seems to be praised "as is") and are used to having less than their best effort accepted as quality work.

Wow, what a great thread and awesome answers!

These had definitely been our experience in the lower elementary grades in particular.

For all the reasons listed above and elsewhere on this thread, even the self-disciplined and motivated gifted kid can�t distinguish them self from the rest because the expectations are set low enough that the majority can meet or exceed them.