{"id":345657,"date":"2020-04-30T09:29:40","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T09:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/gifted-children-teaching-a-genius-is-a-skill-you-learn\/"},"modified":"2020-04-30T09:29:40","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T09:29:40","slug":"gifted-children-teaching-a-genius-is-a-skill-you-learn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ora-visio.com\/en\/gifted-children-teaching-a-genius-is-a-skill-you-learn\/","title":{"rendered":"Gifted Children: Teaching a Genius Is a Skill You Learn"},"content":{"rendered":"

If a child is more gifted than others and gets bored in class, why not just have them skip a grade! If only it were that simple. School failure and difficulties<\/u> <\/a>can also be part of everyday life for gifted children, whatever their grade level. Today, more and more options are available. Jean-Pierre Delaubier\u2019s 2002 report, as an inspector for the French Ministry of Education (\u00c9ducation Nationale), already drew the ministry\u2019s attention to the realities faced by gifted children. Since then, even though they haven\u2019t become widespread enough, the solutions on offer have kept evolving. A brief overview of accommodations for gifted children.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A reminder about giftedness<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Definition and support<\/strong><\/p>\n

Known as “intellectually gifted students” (EIP, the French term), “gifted,” “high-potential,” or “high intellectual potential” children, these children have intellectual development ahead of their peers. Their understanding and way of learning are distinctive. Emotionally and cognitively, these unique students sometimes need support throughout their schooling to ensure their intellectual and emotional development. Gifted children currently make up between 2 and 5% of students, across all grade levels and social backgrounds.<\/p>\n

When there is suspected giftedness<\/u><\/a>, parents are encouraged to discuss it with the child\u2019s teacher and to make an appointment with the school psychologist. The educational team (the school head, the family, the class teacher, the psychologist, the school doctor, and any outside professional the parents feel would be useful to involve) can then meet to identify the child\u2019s difficulties and potential, and to consider suitable accommodations. Just as there are accommodations for ADHD<\/u><\/a>, dyslexia<\/u><\/a>, dysphasia<\/u><\/a>, and dyspraxia<\/u><\/a> and other learning disorders. The regional education authority\u2019s EIP coordinator is also available to parents and teaching staff to design arrangements tailored to the needs of a gifted child. These accommodations are not a fringe approach, quite the opposite: they\u2019re meant to become standard practice, so that gifted children can fully develop their potential.<\/p>\n

<\/em>“Appropriate accommodations are provided for intellectually gifted students or those showing particular aptitudes, so as to allow them to fully develop their potential. Schooling may be accelerated according to the student\u2019s learning pace”<\/em><\/p>\n

Article L321-4 of the French Education Code.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adapting the school life of an intellectually gifted child<\/strong><\/h2>\n

<\/strong>Adapting and practising differentiation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since this kind of student doesn\u2019t think or understand the way everyone else does, it\u2019s worth offering differentiated teaching: adapting the task to the student, or letting them move faster through certain subjects, for example. Adapting also means favouring spoken tasks over written ones, which can sometimes be more laborious for them, as well as limiting repetitive activities and redundant exercises. This kind of student craves meaning. Personalised assignments or presentations fit better with how they work. With their heightened sensitivity, the gifted student pays close attention to how the teacher judges them. They\u2019re capable of working hard just to please their teacher. They often need a form of rapport, complicity, or a sense of challenge from the teacher to unlock their full potential. Aware of how unique this student is, the teacher can allow them to work on several activities at once and choose how they want to complete their work, while making sure to clearly state what is expected of them.<\/p>\n

Offering a path as rich as their potential<\/strong><\/p>\n

To allow the student to stay within their own class, enriching their learning is an excellent approach that can be adapted to any grade level. This can mean broadening the student\u2019s skills through discovery activities that expose them to different fields. That could mean visiting a self-sufficient farm to support a lesson on sustainable development. Group work is also a great method for encouraging debate and creativity. This could take the form of a presentation on wind turbines, drawing on writing, speaking, and visuals around a topic that has meaning for them. Finally, putting the student in the role of a researcher is also an excellent way to enrich a lesson. Asking them to design eco-friendly food packaging, for example, is independent work that will energise the topic being studied.<\/p>\n

Breaking down barriers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cross-level flexibility is key! Why force a gifted student to sit through lessons that are below their abilities? By allowing them to join activities they prefer in higher grade levels, teachers keep them motivated and prevent them from getting bored or unintentionally disrupting the class. While staying focused, within their own grade, on subjects they\u2019re less strong in, the gifted student builds their skills further in what excites them. Making teaching more flexible across levels means adapting timetables, and it\u2019s up to teachers to do everything they can to make this approach a success. Clearly, this kind of tailored flexibility is a more effective solution than risking having the student skip a grade and destabilising them in the subjects or areas of learning they\u2019re less strong in.<\/p>\n

Accelerating their schooling<\/strong><\/p>\n

This involves shortening the length of time spent at a given level, such as admitting a student to CP partway through their final year of nursery school (grande section) if they\u2019ve already learned to read. Grade-skipping at any point during the school year is recommended to keep the student motivated and give them enough intellectual stimulation. Acceleration can be approached in different ways, such as compressing a three-year cycle into two years while still covering the full curriculum. Mixed-level classes are an excellent way to enrich learning and consider skipping a grade.<\/p>\n

Setting up dedicated spaces<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beyond academic skills, it\u2019s also important to prioritise the wellbeing and social integration of these somewhat different students. If all gifted students are grouped into a single class, they risk being marginalised and rejected by students in other classes, who may label them. The ideal approach is therefore to keep them in mainstream classes while offering them dedicated spaces, particularly in middle and high school (coll\u00e8ge and lyc\u00e9e), where they can take part in workshops or simply relax and chat. This resource room is also meant to allow them to talk with an adult, resolve conflicts, or process their emotions.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>Specific pathways<\/strong><\/h2>\n

All these accommodations reflect a suitable approach to supporting the intellectually gifted child, but in cases of severe learning difficulties and school failure, official arrangements are offered to parents and the child. These institutional accommodations are the personalised educational success programme (PPRE) and the personalised support plan (PAP).<\/p>\n

The personalised educational success programme (PPRE):<\/strong> this applies to students at risk of not mastering certain knowledge and skills expected by the end of a school cycle. <\/strong>It is a set of actions listed in a document that states the objectives, resources, timeframes, and assessment methods. Its purpose? To motivate and support the gifted student. It involves the family, the gifted student (EIP), and the student\u2019s teaching team.<\/p>\n

<\/strong>The personalised support plan (PAP): <\/strong>This applies to students with severe school difficulties linked to learning disorders. It is a document that lists the accommodations and teaching adaptations applied for the gifted student. This record is kept by the student\u2019s teachers from nursery school through to the end of secondary school, to avoid any break in accommodations from one year to the next.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/eduscol.education.fr\/<\/a><\/p>\n

For some gifted children, schooling goes smoothly. For a larger number, it runs into misunderstanding, difficulties, and problems fitting in. For all these students, the French education system keeps improving its accommodations and support resources. These recommendations are avenues to explore and adapt, in order to avoid pitfalls such as letting these students get bored, giving them more work than others, or worse still, forcing them to fit the classroom mould! Nurturing genius is a journey for both parents and teachers to take together!<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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