In the chapter on UNDERACHIEVEMENT

Still looking at Thomson's book, Supporting gifted & Talented pupils in the secondary school, this post specifically relates to the underachieving student.

My research has primarily focused on how to teach G&T students in the regular classroom because this is the most common form of education these students face. Gross, the director of UNSW GERRIC (see earlier post) argues strongly for streamed class for G&T students to counter the prevalence on underachievement going on in our education system, among other reasons of course. For many reasons, that I wont go into here, this is not the education most G&T students receive. Hence my interest in what we can do for these students.

A significant problem is underachievement. There are many reasons for this, Thomson notes three; disability or disadvantage, a desire to fit in with peers, and low self-esteem. these result in negative characteristics such as poor study habits and academic avoidance behaviours. (p.17)

Thomson lists the characteristics of underachieving G&T students (p.18),

• a very high IQ but low self-esteem
• poor work habits and unfinished tasks
• an apparent inability to concentrate
• lack of effort in some work but an intense interest in one area
• a skill deficit in one area or subject
• a negative attitude towards self and age peers
• demonstrations of emotional frustration
• failure to respond to stimulation

they can also

• reject set tasks
• not co-operate
• disrupt others or alienate themselves

OR

• prefer to work alone and communicate little
• daydream and produce little to no work
• have little or no concern about their attitude or behaviour

Thomson also provides strategies to address underachievement which she has taken from Gross (2001)

1. Direct praise: let the student know you are aware they could do better and suggest improvements
2. development of study and planning skills: students can rely on their excellent memory and have therefore not developed planning and study skills, this becomes a problem as the student moves up the grade levels particularly in secondary school
3. Use positive NOT sarcastic comments or negative comments: these students can be very sensitive to external criticism, they need to feel they you will not remove support. Be prepared to admit your own mistakes as a form of modelling
4. Look at the curriculum: can it be improved to keep students interest and create a more stimulating learning environment

On page 21 there is an excellent checklist for teachers to use in identifying underachieving behaviour, followed up by some case studies.