School Attitudes

School Attitudes

The culture and climate of the school needs to create a learning environment where the philosophy is that all students should be expected to develop their strengths and weaknesses to the fullest. Gifted students will need a nurturing school environment that respects differences among its students and strives to develop the “whole” student with every learning opportunity.

Appropriate expectations and learning experiences in school depend on accurate recognition of a child's performance level or potential. Schools often hold beliefs and attitudes that result in actions that can be damaging to the optimal growth of gifted children. There is a need for schools to value uniqueness and talent in all children and to nurture and respect giftedness wherever it is found. To make a positive difference in what all human beings can be and how much of their potential they can develop and enjoy, the limiting ideologies that include the notion that gifted students will survive because of their intelligence must be dispelled. Schools need to recognize that gifted and talented students think differently than do most students their own age and require modifications to curriculum, organizational structure, teaching methods, and social constructs to maximize their learning potential.

Currently, most schools provide programming for gifted students that includes enrichment, acceleration, or special grouping in settings, or a combination of these program organizations. For these program options to be successful, the gifted students' strengths need to be encouraged and developed; the learning environment needs to provide alternative learning opportunities for expanding knowledge cognitively, emotionally, and socially; individual differences such as interests, abilities, learning rates, and learning styles need to be addressed; and gifted students need to have contact with other gifted students to provide opportunities where they are challenged by the thoughts of their peers.

Teachers' Attitudes

One of the most important factors affecting the success of gifted and talented students in schools is the selection of high-quality teachers who understand the unique needs and characteristics of gifted students. These teachers, as well as all other teachers, need to view gifted students as they would any other valuable natural resource: to be conserved, developed, and used for the good of all. Teachers need to recognize that there are multiple kinds of giftedness and that there is no one preferred teaching method to teach gifted students.

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