I have read that it's not such a good idea having gifted kids teach others. I would agree with this for my DS9. I just don't see this for him anytime soon.

But I think this could be a good thing for DD6. I'm guessing she may be gifted. In her preschool, the teacher would let DD teach me some songs/activities during my visiting time. She seemed so proud. She just loves to be helpful to me, friends and her teachers.

I wonder if there is more to consider. Any reasons she should not do this?

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!

Great post, Kriston! That covered most of the drawbacks that I can think of.

Just in our personal experience, dd#1 helped teach the other students in 4th grade math and I wouldn't do it again. She probably did a decent job of it and enjoyed the accolades and responsibility, but there were drawbacks. Primarily, she didn't learn much of anything herself and she also wound up with other kids looking up to her and treating her like some kind of idol.

At student presentation nights where the kids presented work they had been doing at school to their parents, other kids read off dedications wherein they went on and on about what an inspiration dd was. It was nice for her self image and it was nice that the kids at the school she was attending at the time didn't pick on the bright kids, but rather admired them, but it wouldn't have been a good thing in the long run for her to get the idea that she was some sort of superior being whose age peers would treat her like that.

She's had a bit more of a reality check in middle school: she is smart, but she isn't going to be idolized by everyone.

Ditto. In our situation I could not have imagined my son teaching at that age, plus the fact that his personality wouldn't have allowed it.

Having said that he has been in the position of teaching other students. For him it was a very positive experience, however, he was much older(15) and the class size was 1 or 2 Yr 11/12 students, so more of a one - one interaction covering maths or physics that he had already mastered. Fortunately, he also has the ability to impart information clearly, concisely and at the right level. Oh, and one of his greatest attributes is patience and lots of it! (I hope that doesn't sound offensive to anyone. It's not a reflection on other peoples abilities).

I will always remember being paired with a boy in elementary, maybe around 3rd or 4th grade, where the teacher just moved me over to where he was sitting and directly told me that I would not get in trouble if he needed help on anything, she would appreciate my helping. He was extremely quiet, kind of a big kid so maybe he'd been held back. I was somewhat proud of this distinction from the teacher, and it seemed to me not to be paraded in front of the other kids, but maybe they noticed - I was already the smart kid so no big shift there for me. Maybe it was painful for the other child, he didn't express this to me, however. I don't recall specifically helping on much of anything big, maybe some reading, some spelling. The main benefit I think I derived is getting to know this pretty imposing fellow somewhat better - basically it opened my eyes to the idea of not reading a book by it's cover. (Perhaps the teacher just put us both together because we were both pretty quiet/friendless).

So, some slight benefit for me, maybe a bit for him, however I couldn't say any of that would outweigh some of the negatives that this sort of thing would usually risk.

Anyone else remember this coming up for them as a child?

My elementary school wanted me to skip second grade, but my mom declined, so instead they seated me next to the slowest kid in the class. The idea was that when I was done with my work, I would help her finish hers. Looking back, it seems to me this was intended primarily as a time saver/short cut for the teacher--it saved her from having to give either me or the slow kid the attention we really needed. The slower girl and I were never friends, and I remember resenting the arrangement.

There is actually research out there that says this is a poor compromise for a Gifted child.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/gifted-education-talent-development-myths/

Wow! thank you, so many things I had not thought about. This was very helpful.

When my son was aged 9-11 this was one of his biggest bug bears. He hated group projects for the very reasons stated above, he felt the expectation was (and a lot of the time it was) on him to do all the work. He eventually refused to participate, preferring to work alone. His lack of participation was raised by the school but dismissed after I spoke with them.

As I stated in my previous post my son did/does teach occassionally at school. Perhaps it is an indictment of the education system here or is it that the teachers are willing to admit to what they don't know (shrug), probably both. He has taught the mathematical components of Physics as the Physics teacher has stated my son knows far more than he does. As far as Maths is concerned he is far beyond what school can teach him and again the teachers admit he knows more than them. Just out of curiosity in our system Mathematics Extension 2 is the highest level of high school maths. Appromimately 71,000 students in the state sit the HSC (Yr12) examinations each year across all subject areas and of those approx. 320 take Ext 2 maths. Some, maybe many schools can't get a teacher able to teach this level of maths (they resort to employing university lecturers), is this also the case in the US?

In my teaching experience, both in the US and abroad, (I am a math/physics teacher)this is unfortunately the case in many countries. The problem lies in the fact that if you are capable of teaching the highest levels of math and physics, chances are you are not going to step foot into a classroom once you have your degree unless it is as a parent for a conference about your child. Why? Because you can make a ton more money by going into industry. With the salaries what they are here, it is really not worth the time, energy and frustration of having to teach in the public high school here.

I know very few high school math and physics teachers, who teach the highest levels of these courses who have either a) a degree in either subject, or b) have taken classes at the level they are now teaching. The last time I heard stats about this, it was something horrible like only 20% of all physics teachers in US high schools have a background in physics or a related field!

Whenever I've been job hunting, the fact that I have a masters degree in physics, and can actually teach those high level classes has gotten me not only an almost immediate interview, but often multiple offers.

The schools and universities really need to change their recruiting tactics and training methods to entice others like myself into the teaching field, but to be honest, there are often days that I think it would have been a whole lot easier to have gone into industry and had a "normal" 9-5 job, and not one that I have to work 8-4 + 4 more hours a night doing marking, writing reports, making plans, etc. Not to mention dealing with ~100 teenagers in class everyday for 9 hours a day.

(Having said that, there is no way I would last in industry - I am a true teacher - can't imagine doing anything else and love being in the classroom with kids teaching them these subjects. )

I agree with everything that Kriston says, especially in the regular "traditional" classroom, where a student teaching is not the norm.

However, I've seen positive examples in Montessori, multi-age classrooms. Most Montessori classrooms have children of up to a three-year span grouped together. As the students get older, they are expected to lead the younger students in some activities. This may coincide with the older/advanced student learning another aspect of the activity from the teacher. In this way, they are formally reviewing (when they teach the younger child) and learning something new.

Because it happens in addition to learning new material (including leadership skills) it doesn't seem to hinder growth at all. Certified Montessori teachers are also trained in observing student needs and differentiating work for each student. Because the classroom contains children of multiple age groups, differences from the age/grade lock-step are not as obvious.

The teaching profession is truly blessed to have you Kerry.



I have often wondered about this as people frequently ask what DS is going to do when he finishes university. I have no idea but have always assumed that high school maths wouldn't be challenging/satisfying enough for him, plus I don't see him as a true teacher.

During the holidays he purchased a postgraduate university guide and is looking into doing his masters and doctorate, so I still have no idea what he will end up doing but then again he probably doesn't either....

(Mind you, I often have visions of him in the bowels of some university lecturing, researching and scribbling down formulae on scrap pieces of paper.LOL)

I think another problem is that if you do end up going the professional route, and learning a lot of good real-world application of the ideas, it is nearly impossible to go back into teaching. I have been looking into this a lot, because I would like to have summers with my children. But, I cannot take a semester and teach half-time without pay. I understand why they do this, but at the same time, it makes it hard for someone who relies on a salary to make the transition.

I think about this too, teaching in technology or computer science, but couldn't do it now for $ reasons. I console myself with the idea that I'd probably only be a b+ teacher at best!

This is not always the case. I left the professional world to pursue my teaching credential. I went to a "night" school for my credential and was allowed to do my student teaching in a paid position at a public charter school. I went from one profession to the other in about 6 weeks.