TEACHING STRATEGIES

Teaching Gifted Students: Unveiling Qualities and Proven Strategies

10 January 2024/ By Zineb DJOUB

Teaching gifted students is an extremely demanding job. These have different learning needs than other students. They can learn more and faster at school, and can usually perform at an outstanding level in some areas. Failing to meet their needs, they can easily get bored, and frustrated, and suffer emotionally as well as intellectually. Some develop behaviour problems, and others have difficulties making connections with their peers or fail school.

As Amend and Peters (2012) state, “When giftedness is denied or ignored, the gifted individual cannot integrate it into her understanding of who she is” (p. 594).

For this reason, identifying gifted students will help guide a teacher’s actions within the regular classroom and identify the programme that would be a good fit for their abilities in case gifted education is provided. To learn more about gifted students’ characteristics and the identification process, check out the previous post here.

Besides, since working with gifted students is different, certain instruction is more appropriate than others.

In this post, you will learn about the qualities of good gifted education teachers and some effective teaching strategies and tips to meet their specific needs.

Qualities of good gifted education teacher

Gifted students pay too much attention to detail, pose complex questions in class, and may know more facts than us. So, working with them is very different and can be energy-draining.

However, don’t let the gifted students take up all your time, and get frustrated by the challenge.

Be patient! You don’t need to have in-depth content knowledge to answer every question they address in class.

We should have a solid mastery of our subject, but we should also know about our limitations and expand continuously our knowledge.

A positive attitude about learning and your interest in supporting gifted students to thrive are the most essential qualities you need to have.

The ability to learn along with the students is more important than focusing on disseminating knowledge. Therefore, to help gifted students, you need to embrace lifelong learning, show a liking to their continued love of learning, understand their social and emotional needs, and provide appropriate support.

To support gifted students to thrive, it is also important to have flexible teaching styles and be willing to accommodate them. This is by connecting the curriculum to students’ learning profiles and interests, providing a wide range of learning materials, and adapting instructional strategies to meet their varied needs.

Further, another important quality is having a sense of humour. Humour is important, both for students and teachers, to reduce stress and create a more relaxed atmosphere in the classroom where rapport and connection are built with students.

Because gifted students get easily bored and distracted, using humour is likely to capture their attention and make learning more engaging. It can also stimulate unconventional thinking and problem-solving skills.

Besides, humour can be a valuable tool for helping students cope with their emotional and social challenges by providing opportunities for self-expression and a way to navigate social dynamics.

Good gifted education teachers also need considerable communication skills. They need to explain complex concepts, listen actively, observe, provide feedback, and collaborate with others (parents, colleagues, counselors) to support the overall development of these students.

Effective strategies for teaching gifted students

Here are some strategies that educators can employ to provide an enriching and supportive learning experience for gifted students.

1. Provide intellectual stimulation

Providing intellectual stimulation for gifted students is crucial to keep them engaged, challenged, and fulfilled in the learning environment. Here are some essential strategies to stimulate the intellectual development of gifted students.

# Differentiating instruction

Differentiating instruction will help you engage gifted students in tasks that are relevant to their interests and learning experiences, stimulate their creative thinking, and help them achieve more than they expected.

This is achieved by providing varied levels of difficulty, alternative assignments, and alternative pathways for exploring and mastering content. Therefore, to work with gifted students, you need to be very flexible and capable of differentiating instruction. To learn more about how to differentiate instruction, check out this post.

# Enrichment activities

Enrichment activities that go beyond the standard curriculum can provide rich learning experiences for students, spark their curiosity, and foster their critical thinking and practical application.

These activities can include, for instance, independent study, small-group discussions, large-group projects, tutorials, Socratic Seminars, field trips, games, extensive reading, and other learning activities to support learning and stimulate gifted students’ intellectual growth.

# Interaction with peers

Gifted students prefer to work with peers who share their interests and abilities. Thus, the most important kind of intellectual stimulation these students need is the companionship of gifted peers with whom they can exercise their quick wit and sharp intellectual fencing skills.

You can collaborate with teachers to organize peer support groups for students with similar strengths and interests across grade levels and schools. They can also engage in competitions or collaborative projects. Interaction among gifted students is likely to provide intellectual challenges and opportunities for shared learning experiences.

# Self-directed learning

Gifted students may need opportunities to make choices and function with a greater degree of independence than their peers. So, offer them choices in assignments, projects, or topics of study to foster their autonomy and ownership over their learning. Help them set their goals and monitor their progress. These can increase motivation and engagement.

# Mentorship programmes

Establish mentorship programmes where gifted students connect with mentors who share their interests or expertise. In doing so, they will get personalized guidance and exposure to real-world applications of knowledge.

2. Support their social and emotional growth

The main goal for gifted students is finding meaning. However, their awareness, intellectual power, and eagerness to make a difference in this world often lead to social alienation. The latter was found to be a function of the lack of a suitable peer group, rather than emotional disturbance (Hebert, 2011).

Distinguishing them from others in class by labelling them as ‘too intelligent’, placing unrealistic expectations and pressures on them, and giving them extra assignments or asking them to do more jobs in class; can also make them feel alien and struggle for identity and connection.

So, being knowledgeable about their unique characteristics and needs is not meant to isolate them from the rest, but to create richer learning experiences that can engage them in learning and foster their sense of belonging.

Therefore, to support gifted students’ well-being, you need to create a safe learning environment where they can be themselves, and feel accepted and supported without hiding what they know to get your and their peers’ approval.

All students need to understand that everyone is unique and has the potential or aptitude to learn. As a community, they need to embrace diversity and honour differences.

You can instil such attitudes by incorporating social or extra-curricular activities where students strive for excellence in a non-competitive environment.

Your support also stems from guiding students through setting clear expectations, giving constructive criticism, and tangible rewards, and accommodating schedules, and routine times for sharing or relaxing.

Remember that gifted students may not excel in all areas. So, respect all students’ strengths and weaknesses, encourage them to accept both without embarrassment, take risks, and learn from their mistakes.

Supporting gifted students is not your sole responsibility. It is a collaborative effort involving various stakeholders, including parents, other teachers, school counselors, and psychologists.

I hope these suggested strategies will help you empower gifted students to not just excel academically, but to strive for success in an ever-evolving world. Take on the challenge; success awaits your effort.

References

Amend, E. R., & Peters, D. B. (2012). Misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of gifted children: The importance of accurate assessment. In T. L. Cross & J. R. Cross (Eds.), Handbook for counselors serving students with gifts & talents: Development, relationships, school issues, and counseling needs/interventions (pp. 585–596). Waco, TX: Prufrock.

Hebert, T. P. (2011). Understanding the social and emotional lives of gifted students. Waco, TX: Prufrock.