Supporting Gifted Learners

Listening to the gifted students speak at the Connect.Ed. Conference with clarity about what helps their learning, what are blockers and how they cope with the daily expectations of themselves and of others was inspirational and tinged with a little sadness. Most were young teenagers and had spent many years searching for other kids who 'think like me' for friendships, for acceptance and just a space to be themselves. Instead most had found bullying, stress, frustration, anxiety and an unrealistic expectation of what giftedness means. But for many they had their own passions that they held high to light their way, to help them find a place to be themselves even if it was without someone with whom to share it with.

The tinge of sadness came from the fact that many suffered from anxiety and high levels of stress due to their teachers not understanding them as individuals. To me, as a teacher the relationships that we make with our students are key. They come first and then the learning and feeling of mana whenua (belonging) come alongside this. They also need to see our own passions and we need to let them know about who we are, our families and our interests so they can connect with us.

The day after the conference I found this poster that had a number of points that these gifted students raised. I think professional development for teachers is essential so that they have a non biased view of gifted students. Unfortunately many teachers only gain this knowledge if they themselves have a gifted child or perhaps a gifted member of their family.

Hopefully with a new 30 year vision for Education coming soon we will see more emphasis for both ends of the learning spectrum to be acknowledged and teachers to gain professional development to help gifted students to reach their potential in a non stressful or anxiety inducing learning environment.