Giftedness
What are the “special challenges” of the gifted? Aren’t they good at everything? The answer varies person to person. Gifted people often struggle with motivation, an extreme need for engagement and stimulation, perfectionism, procrastination, a need for challenge, the paralysis of too many choices, or too much information, the need to know how to manage their sensitivity to the world around them, and emotional and social challenges (loneliness, isolation, depression). Gifted people often struggle with addictions, as a way to numb the pain their sensitivity brings. They also need to learn that when things don’t come easy, it doesn’t mean that they are a big fraud – they can be gifted and still have to work hard to achieve their goals. Study skills and perseverance are things that sometimes need to be intentionally taught to gifted students. Often skilled manipulators, they need to learn a strong moral code to guide their behaviour, and the wisdom to distinguish between social/cultural values (that can be ignored at times), and Biblical values that are attached to honourable behaviour and blessing.
The impact these challenges can have on education is huge – many gifted students drop out of high school and university because they feel it is pointless and doesn’t meet their needs. In an “at your own pace” school like a DL, a “flexible deadline” can be deadly – because everything can be polished just a little more before it is perfect. Or if the work is repetitive, which most of us need to reinforce concepts, then you lose the gifted student because they are bored. If they can’t see the purpose behind the assignment and don’t have buy-in, very little will motivate them. They may fail before they get that assignment done.
The impact these challenges can have on education is huge – many gifted students drop out of high school and university because they feel it is pointless and doesn’t meet their needs. In an “at your own pace” school like a DL, a “flexible deadline” can be deadly – because everything can be polished just a little more before it is perfect. Or if the work is repetitive, which most of us need to reinforce concepts, then you lose the gifted student because they are bored. If they can’t see the purpose behind the assignment and don’t have buy-in, very little will motivate them. They may fail before they get that assignment done.