Justin Michael

A Persuasive Essay on Gifted LearnersUp it goes, again and again, reaching towards some unseen prize; that persistent little hand that

shoots up after every single question. We have all met someone in our lives who seems to know all the answers all the time. Someone who learns faster, conceptualizes easier and has a generally higher level of intellect than most of their peers. In the world of education, students like these are classified as “bright” or “gifted” and regardless of what you refer to them as they all have one thing in common. They are not being challenged in school.

Speaking as someone who was classified as gifted, I can say with confidence that doing nothing to challenge these young minds is simply not an option. A bright student who is not challenged by their classwork will not only fail to reach their full potential, but may even exhibit troublesome behaviour.

My grade 9 math class had the stereotypical disruptive teenage boys. There was three of us, myself included, who sat at the back of the class and were consistently disruptive, off task and seemingly apathetic. Ironically, we were getting some of the best marks in the class. We were not lazy or stupid or apathetic; we were just bored. Disengaged and unchallenged, we did what you would expect 14 year old boys to do; entertain themselves while doing just enough work to get decent marks.

But what else can be done? Skipping grades is usually frowned upon because of the social consequences and even in an accelerated program Ontario law says that we have to teach to the curriculum. Luckily for us, the curriculum dictates the content of each class but not how that content is presented. The way to challenge gifted learners is to provide them with opportunities to learn skills that allow for application, like time management and creative problem solving, rather than simply information retention.

My final mark in grade 9 math was 90%; not a bad mark but a lot worse than the 97% I got in grade 10. What changed was that my grade 10 math class was an enriched class. Most mornings our teacher would start the class with a “Mad Morning Challenge.” The challenges were unlike ones that we had seen before but close enough that we had all the tools needed to solve it. It gave us the opportunity to creatively approach something completely unfamiliar, come up with a solution and discuss as a class which answer was the right one. We had the same tests, did the same assignments and wrote the same exam as the other classes but we also learned the type of creative problem solving and peer collaboration that leads to mathematical discoveries.

Grade 10 math was not my first experience with an enriched environment. From grade 4 to grade 8 I was placed in a full time gifted program where we used a ‘contract’ system. We would be given a ‘contract’ outlining the major assignments and their due dates for the following months. The lessons were similar to those outside the program except that where other classes would be told what to work on and when, we would be given the time, reminded of the due dates and sent on our way. It was a hands-on lesson in time management and it was one that is not easily forgotten. It is my experience with that style of self-directed learning that I credit with giving me the skills to row competitively during my High School years, training 5 times a week most weeks of the year while being involved in a number of extracurricular activities and a full load of courses. The time management skills I learned through my experience in that style of teaching are a powerful gift that we can grant to gifted learners and ones that serve me well to this day.

Justin Michael

The idea that highly intelligent students do not need special consideration is an unfortunate misconception. If the needs of gifted children are left unaddressed they will fail to fulfill their potential. By placing them in a learning environment that allows them to improve more broadly based academic abilities like managing priorities and applying their skills to new challenges, the educational system can engage a set of highly motivated students that might otherwise fall by the wayside. It may seem illogical to accommodate already successful students, but even the best gifts take a little effort to unwrap.