Gifted Underachievers

Perhaps we should stop trying to put square pegs in round holes. Both parents and teachers feel very frustrated by intelligent students who do not perform in school. They assume that the kids are just plain lazy or that the school personnel are not trying hard enough. We label these students gifted underachievers. Instead of everyone casting blame, perhaps we should look at this dilemma in a different way.

I recently ran into the former teacher of one such student. Mrs. Dignan said that Thomas was obviously very smart and a nice boy, but was not a producer. Now in his early 30s, Thomas is working hard and has a good job. He didn’t have problems in school because he was lazy or because his teachers were not trying; instead, he had problems because he has a style of learning that cannot be readily taught. He was, and still is, extremely visual-spatial and learns through experimentation.

Rather than beat our heads against the wall trying to fit this type of student into an imperfect   system, we should consider alternatives. What is the young person interested in, academic or nonacademic? There are many valuable careers that do not use traditionally academic subjects. As a young person, Thomas’s interests were in computers, film (both watching and making), and individual sports. He loved it when his parents read to him, but he did not enjoy reading himself (unless it was fantasy). He learned to play the guitar and did quite well with it. He seemed to be born with the skill to draw well and combined this with a well-developed sense of humor to create cartoons. He enjoyed being with peers who were deep thinkers who were also creative.

Adults need to foster and value the interests of young people, even when can’t foresee where these interests might lead. Explore together career possibilities that use the strengths of each child.

While Thomas did not do well in school, he did finish high school and also spent a few years in college. After that, he moved in and out of jobs trying to find something that would fit his interests. Finally, in his mid-20s, he landed on just that. He got back into computers where he could use his strong visual-spatial and excellent problem solving skills. At first he built and maintained computer systems. Then he moved into management and started a few side businesses of his own related to computers. Thomas thrives on complex problems much as a lawyer would welcome the challenge of a court scene. He makes a good salary, has lots of friends, and is a very caring person.

Today, Thomas is certainly not an underachiever. In fact, he has achieved far more than many of his classmates who were excellent students. But Thomas is pretty much self-taught. In fact, looking back on the situation, there is probably no way that anyone could have taught him. His mind does just not respond to traditional school methods. He used to be a square peg who everyone was trying to fit into a round hole. If the adults in his life had just allowed him to be the square peg, life may have been a little easier as he was growing up.

The Positive and Negative Powers of Praise

Why is it that some children who are very smart lack confidence about their abilities in school? According to a recent article in New York Magazine titled How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The Inverse Power of Praise, a large percentage of gifted students severely underrate the importance of effort, and they overrate how much help they need from a parent.

The vast majority of parents think it’s important to tell their kids that they’re smart, but a growing body of evidence strongly suggests that labeling kids as “smart” may actually cause under-performance.

Carol Dweck, formerly from Columbia and now at Stanford, has spent the last 10 years studying the effect of praise on students in New York schools. She found that, when given a choice, students who were praised for their intelligence chose easier work so that they could still look smart; they didn’t want to risk making mistakes. Ninety percent of the children who were praised for their effort chose harder work.

In a subsequent round, when all students were given a very difficult task, there was also a difference between the two groups. Those who had been praised for effort got very involved and were willing to try all the solutions to the puzzles, many remarking that “This was my favorite test.” Those who had been praised for their intelligence had a different reaction. They found the test to be very stressful.

Dweck concluded that emphasizing effort gives a child something they can control.

In follow-up interviews, it was found that those who think that innate intelligence is the most important ingredient of success feel that they do not need to put out effort. Dweck found that this effect of praise held true for students of every socioeconomic class, and was especially true of the very brightest girls.

To be effective, researchers have found that praise needs to be both sincere and specific (i.e., I like how you keep trying, or you listened well to instructions, or you concentrated for a long time without taking a break, or your free throws during the basketball game were very good).

Students must have a strategy for handling failure. The lack of this strategy is compounded when a parent ignores a child’s failures and insists he’ll do better the next time. This may cause the child to believe that failure is so terrible that the family can’t acknowledge its existence. A child deprived of the opportunity to discuss mistakes can’t learn from them. Dweck wants students to believe that the way to bounce back from failure is to work harder. By developing this trait of persistence, students are able to sustain motivation through long periods of delayed gratification. If one is rewarded too much, they’ll learn to quit when those rewards disappear.

Motivation and the Gifted Underachiever

There is nothing so frustrating as having a child who you know is very bright, yet does not perform.

Many studies have been conducted on underachieving gifted students, but it is still a little understood syndrome. There is no one reason for underachievement. It may be caused by

• a physical, cognitive, or emotional issue such as a learning disability, attention deficit, emotional disturbance, psychological disorder, or health impairment
• a mismatch between the student and his school environment
• a personal characteristic such as low self-motivation, low self-regulation (the ability to monitor, evaluate, and react appropriately to one’s performance), or not believing in one’s own capabilities

So, what is a parent or teacher to do? Caution should be exercised when using the reward/punishment approach, which may encourage the constant need for tangible rewards or pressures, rather than the student learning because he wants to learn.

Intrinsic motivation (self-motivation) is by far the more desirable as it is long lasting. Many students have spent their school career (K-12) motivated mainly by the rewards or punishments that adults imposed upon them only to fall apart once they are on their own. It is always most desirable to encourage hard work and learning for the love and self-satisfaction of it rather than for a short-term reward or punishment.

Here are some helpful resources.

Articles on the Internet

Intrinsic Motivation 

A teacher’s list of 21 strategies for enhancing motivation, plus other resources on underachievement.

A treasure trove of excellent articles are available at the Davidson Institute website. Type “underachievement” in the search box at the top of the page.

Books

Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students, 2nd ed., by Donna Ford

Contains information on key social, familial, educational, and psychological factors that contribute to underachievement and under-representation.

Teaching Strategies in Gifted Education 

This book contains three chapters on underachievement by different gifted education experts.

When Gifted Students Underachieve, by Silvia Rimm

The author, one of the leading experts in the underachievement of gifted students, looks at the various causes of underachievement, discusses the characteristics of gifted underachievers, and provides educators with solid advice on combating underachievement in this population.