How To Work With High Potential Children At School?

High potential student, gifted student, talented, precocious, genius… All these concepts refer to a type of student who stand out from the average. In this article, we will discuss the topic of high potential children and how they are treated in school.

In general, there is a tendency to use a whole range of existing terminology to designate this type of student. And this without discernment. It is therefore necessary to distinguish the main concepts which are certainly close to each other and which are often confused in the world of education.

• A precocious pupil. This is a student who has a higher level of development than his classmates. This therefore implies that he also acquires knowledge and skills earlier than expected for his age. Being early is usually an indicator of great ability, but it is not always the case. A precocious pupil ends up overtaking the rest of his class. And this, at all levels.

• A talented student. This term refers to a student with high abilities or performance in a particular field. In other areas, however, its performance may be average or even poor.
• A gifted student or commonly called “gifted”. The main characteristics that define these children are high intelligence, high degree of creativity (also referred to as divergent thinking), high motivation and a keen sense of curiosity.
  • They are generally students with good memory, good concentration and good attention. They are also experts in metacognitive processes.
  • In the emotional sphere, they generally tend to have a good image of themselves as well as good self-esteem. This is often linked to their good academic performance. These characteristics are, however, general.

The difficulties of children with high potential

High skills can go unnoticed or even lead to unwanted behavior in the classroom. Indeed, these students do not always show themselves to be particularly efficient. Some difficulties are to be detected and managed:

• Concealment of their abilities in order to be accepted.
• Lack of interest in most academic subjects.
• Bad study habits.
• A great verbal capacity which makes it difficult to communicate with others.
• Uncooperative.
• Feeling of rejection.
• Boredom in class and frustration.
• Duties not done and obligations not kept.
• Focus on activities that interest them (for example, playing video games or reading).

Tips for working with children with high potential

Before establishing a work program, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the pupil beyond the label that may have been attributed to him. Not everyone has the same profile and, therefore, measures that benefit some may not be suitable for others.

However, there are three main specific educational measures that are generally implemented. First of all, the flexibility or reduction of the duration of schooling, the adaptation of school programs and finally the enrichment of school programs.

Flexibility or shortening the length of schooling

This measure is of an extraordinary nature and refers to two situations. In the first case, it is decided that the pupil begins his educational phase earlier than the standard age. For example, start primary education at the age of five instead of six.

In the second case, it is decided that the pupil must move to a higher class during his schooling. Thus, for example, in primary education, after completing his CE1, the pupil can go directly to CM1.

Adaptations of the study program

These are individualized adaptations intended to broaden the student’s school program. A common procedure is to add content from higher grades or to delve deeper into the content of the current school year.

We then speak, respectively, of vertical or horizontal extension. Other procedures consist of removing content when the student has already mastered it and adding new content to it. The point of all of this is to keep the child motivated. It is about making sure that he does not get bored and that he learns at the rate of his abilities.

On the other hand, the methodology can also be modified in order to promote student autonomy. In other words, the child with high potential is given more responsibility in his own learning process. Finally, we can study the possibility of implementing different evaluation techniques.

Enrichment of the study program

This is a measure adopted at school level. It consists in providing the pupil with a content different from that of the school program. For example: writing workshops, science clubs, the creation of a magazine or a school radio, but also extracurricular activities such as chess or drawing.

Terrassier’s dyssynchrony

One problem that can arise when putting in place measures to work with children with high potential is what is called Terrassier’s dyssynchrony. These are the different rates of development of the child, namely cognitive, motor, emotional, linguistic, etc.

For example, a child may have a very advanced intellectual development compared to the rest of his class, but maintain a level of emotional development appropriate to his age. In this situation, accelerating the schooling period or advancing the school year should be viewed with caution, as it could have more negative than positive consequences.

In all cases, these decisions come with a certain level of uncertainty. Each of the options has its share of gain, but also of risk.

Our thoughts

If we ask someone what they mean by a high potential personality, they will most likely define a person with a