Bright children can struggle too, even when their grades look fine. We explore why gifted learners are often misunderstood and how schools can struggle to meet their needs.
Gifted children are often the pupils teachers assume are fine and parents are told not to worry about.
They get good grades. They score highly in tests. They rarely need help understanding the work. Teachers describe them as bright, able, or talented. From the outside, everything appears to be going well.
Yet a child's behaviour can paint a totally different picture. Their child finishes work quickly and spends much of the lesson waiting. They ask questions that never get answered because the class needs to move on. They become fascinated by a topic and want to learn everything about it, but there is little time to explore it properly. So, some become bored or frustrated. Some stop trying. Some learn to hide their abilities because they do not want to stand out.
Gifted children have educational needs too
When people think about needing educational support, they usually think about children who are struggling academically. But highly able children can have educational needs too. Like children with dyslexia, dyscalculia, anxiety for example, they benefit when their educational needs are identified and supported.
A child reading years above their age level may spend much of the school day covering material they mastered long ago. A gifted mathematician may finish work quickly and spend the rest of the lesson waiting. A child with a deep interest in science, history, engineering, or literature will probably have little opportunity to explore those subjects in depth.
This is not necessarily a failure of schools or teachers. Schools are designed to educate groups of children with diverse needs, and even the best teachers have limited time to devote to any one student.
As gifted education researcher Professor Joseph Renzulli has argued, high ability alone is not enough. In his Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness, first published in 1978 and developed in later works, Renzulli wrote that gifted behaviour consists of “an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits—these clusters being above average general and/or specific abilities, high levels of task commitment, and high levels of creativity.” Without challenge, engagement, and opportunities to develop their interests, potential can remain unrealised.
Good grades can be misleading
It’s wrong to assume gifted children will succeed regardless of their educational environment.
Studies of gifted underachievement have been conducted for decades. Educational psychologist Sylvia Rimm found that many highly able students perform below their potential when they become disengaged from school or lose confidence in the value of effort. A child who is rarely challenged may learn that success requires very little work. Later, when a genuine challenge arrives, they may lack the resilience, study habits, or confidence needed to tackle it.
We’ve seen many instances where gifted children become disengaged because they are only rarely stretched. Others develop poor study habits because everything comes so easily to them. Some children become perfectionists and avoid difficult tasks because they are too afraid to make a mistake, while others are underachieving because they stop seeing any point in putting in effort.
The parents find this confusing, because their child is clearly intelligent, but seems unmotivated. It’s too easy to put this down to adolescence, a particular teacher, or a temporary loss of interest. Some parents try to fill the gap with extracurricular activities, new hobbies, sports clubs, or enrichment programmes. Others assume their child is simply coasting for a while and that things will improve naturally.
Adam Caller, founder and CEO of Tutors International says:
"One of the biggest misconceptions in education is that bright children will be fine on their own. If a child is struggling, everyone recognises they need support. If a child is exceptionally able, people often assume they'll simply take care of themselves. In reality, gifted children can be every bit as underserved as children at the other end of the spectrum."
Gifted children need challenge
Schools often support gifted children through extension activities, harder homework, or additional work. While these can help, exceptional ability is rarely developed through doing more of the same.
Many gifted children need depth as much as pace. They benefit from investigating complex questions, pursuing ambitious projects, and exploring subjects in greater detail than a classroom timetable usually allows.
Professor Karen Rogers' research into gifted education concluded that gifted learners make greater academic progress when educational provision is adapted to their level of readiness, rather than requiring them to move at the pace of the average student.
The children who flourish are often those who are given the freedom to follow their interests and tackle problems that genuinely stretch them.
The hidden challenge of twice-exceptionality
Some gifted children are also navigating additional learning differences such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or executive functioning difficulties. Known as twice-exceptional learners, they are often among the most misunderstood children in education.
A child may discuss complex scientific ideas while struggling to organise their homework, or read years above their age level while finding writing slow and exhausting.
The position statement and guidance from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) on twice exceptional students states:
"The gifts and disabilities may mask each other, causing both exceptionalities to be overlooked."
Researchers have long recognised that twice-exceptional learners are often overlooked because their strengths can mask their difficulties, while their difficulties can mask their strengths. Studies have found that this "masking effect" frequently delays identification and support, leaving both children and parents searching for answers.
When curiosity runs out of road
Many gifted children are driven by an intense curiosity. When something captures their interest, they throw themselves into it, reading widely, asking endless questions, building projects, conducting experiments, and teaching themselves remarkable amounts.
The challenge is that curiosity does not always fit neatly into a classroom timetable. Lessons have to move on, curricula have to be covered, and teachers have to balance the needs of an entire class. Even in excellent schools, there is rarely enough time to pursue every fascinating question in depth.
Over time, some gifted children stop asking those questions because they know there will be little opportunity to explore the answers. Others look elsewhere for stimulation.
Research into creativity and achievement consistently highlights the importance of nurturing deep interests from an early age. Many successful scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, and academics trace their achievements back to an early fascination that somebody took seriously. In his landmark study Developing Talent in Young People, Benjamin Bloom found that many high achievers traced their success back to an early fascination that was encouraged and supported by parents, teachers, or mentors.
For gifted children, those interests are often more than hobbies. They can become the foundation for future expertise, achievement, and fulfilment.
What if your child is capable of more?
If much of this sounds familiar, remember, you are not alone.
Many of the families who come to Tutors International are less concerned about grades and more about their child’s potential. They can see their child becoming bored, disengaged, or frustrated, and they are looking for an education that provides greater challenge and flexibility.
Whether your child is profoundly gifted, twice-exceptional, or simply capable of more than their current educational environment allows, the right tutor can make a remarkable difference.
Contact Tutors International to discuss your child's needs and discover how truly personalised education can help them flourish.
