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CHALLENGES OF INTELLECTUALLY GIFTED STUDENTS

A Research Paper Presented to the


English Department, Senior High School
University of the Cordilleras

In Partial Fulfillment of
The Requirements in the Subject
Practical Research 1

HUMSS 12 C

BABAS, QUINEA
BACANI, ROSALINDA
BACOG, MINERVA
BALANGAN, ARIANE
BALAS, RICHELLE
BARINO, HAZAEL

October 2018
Introduction
According to Renzulli’s (1978) theory about intellectually gifted students,“Gifted
behaviour occurs when there is an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits: above-
average general and/or specific abilities, high levels of task commitment (motivation), and high
levels of creativity.” Proves how hard work and perseverance in aiming high grades are way
more complicated when you are a gifted student. In this case, having all three basic clusters into
one person can be really challenging also when being compared to average students.

Moreover, there are certain factors that would affect how they are being related to each
average student in their class. For instance, students who are intellectually inclined are the ones
who stand out more than ordinary students. Teachers are always looking after them because they
know that intellectually gifted students can do whatever task they ask them to do, especially in
terms of academics. With that, some average students are being dependent on gifted students,
which make them unable to think on their own. In other words, this study would focus on finding
a solution on both average and above-average students when it comes to their learning
capabilities.

Being in the same atmosphere and surroundings with above-average students is already a
struggle itself for the students who are considered as average or below. Separating rooms for
intellectually gifted students would maximize their capabilities depending on the curriculum that
are made specifically for them most importantly with the said consequences that were
mentioned. However, the lack of knowledge about the certain characteristics of these “Gifted”
children would be a hindrance in achieving the best of these students. Students having a grade of
90 and above cannot be considered as intellectually gifted already.

The qualitative research aims to gather data from the students of the Philippine Science
High School in Baguio City. Philippine Science High School or PISAY is known as one of the
best Science school in the nation. Their standards are very high that every student must follow
their protocols very well. The pressure that these students face is not just with academics per se
but also with the system of the school itself. PISAY is open to anyone who wishes to focus on
Science and Mathematics as these are the subjects that they give attention the most.

They are open for both Junior High School and Senior High School students. However,
even though they may not cater these students until College. It is by their contract where it is
stated that they need to continue on taking Science and Mathematics courses. If they fail to do
so, they will pay a fine. The pressure and stress they are all facing is beyond unimaginable since
not only their knowledge is at stake but also their reputation as representatives of one of the best
Science High School in the Philippines.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the different characteristics each intellectually
gifted student obtains. According to Courtright (n.d.), a gifted education research specialist at
Duke University Talent Identification Program, there are a few myths about these intellectually
gifted student, for example, they have everything going their way, can succeed without help,
should be valued mostly for their brain power, are more stable and mature, should assume
responsibility for others, enjoy being examples to/for other children, have abilities that are
always valued by their families, excel or exceed the norms in all areas of development, need to
be disciplined more than others, will always reveal their giftedness and are high achievers with
high motivation to excel in school. This common misinterpretation about these capable students
can have a huge impact to how they would respond in accordance to these opinions.

A real gifted student is currently qualified as having a high intellectual or academic


ability (Manning, 2006). However, there are more attributes than just being a part of the ‘high
intellectual’ group, focusing on both cognitive characteristics and affective characteristics to
specify each trait they acquire. Franks and Dolan (1982) had three factors about what makes a
student gifted based from their affective characteristics; persistence, independence and self-
concept. Persistence is said to be one of the most important facets a gifted can obtain (as cited in
Roe, 1953). When considering behavioral terms, Albert (1975) also emphasized the importance
of productivity as it is the essence of a gifted person. It is one of the most crucial traits because
productivity is what drags them to accomplish their goals.

Franks and Dolan (1982) stated that students who are examined to be “open to question
since it covers both independence from one’s peers in a social sense, and nonconformity of
thought and behavior in a creative sense.” Moreover, according to the study of Manning (as
cited in Chuska, 1989; Clark, 2002; Silverman, 2000; and Winebrenner, 2001) these students
prefer to work alone in completing tasks. They believe that their capability to work harder
compared to other has made them feel like they rather do an activity alone rather than letting the
other rely to them. Then, the idea of self- concept enters wherein based from the same study by
Franks and Dylan, academically skilled students may find themselves as a whole new image
basing themselves from their grades.

Cognitive characteristics on the other hand is more on the technical side and can be
observed through these qualifications; process and retain large amounts of information,
comprehend materials at advanced levels, curious and have varied and sometimes intense
interests, high levels of language development and verbal ability possess accelerated and flexible
thought processes, adept at generating original ideas and solutions to problems, Form their own
ways of thinking about problems and ideas, Learn things at an earlier age than peers, high desire
to learn and seek out their own interests, abstract thinkers at an earlier age than peers, prefer
complex and challenging work, and transfer knowledge and apply it to new situations (Manning
2006).

According to Roedell, W.C. (1944), author of the book: Vulnerabilities of Highly Gifted
Children stated, “Many gifted children exhibit an inner push toward perfection, which drives
them to set impossible goals for themselves.” Intellectually gifted students have a tendency to
overthink with the output that they are trying to work on. In that case, the students tend to
exercise their critical thinking skill and creative ability in order for them to meet the ideal
outcome they want to consummate.

The goal towards perfection the intellectually gifted student desires to aim either affects
them in a positive or negative aspect. Positive in a way that it provides the student sufficient
energy to think outside the box imaginatively that leads to a great achievement such as being on
top of the class, winning quiz bee competitions, etc. With that great accomplishment, the
students are being subjected to be capable in conceptual abilities to imagine ambitious and act
impressively. The persistence of the student to keep on achieving greater and higher grades in
which the student pushes himself too much that they unnoticeably pressuring oneself due to the
high standards that the student set for himself, that is where the negative aspect pops in (Howe &
Smith, 1988).

On the other hand, the road towards perfection leads to negativism since the intellectually
gifted student tries to cover up the flaws and errors of the activity done that causes the
impossible goals that would be formulating from the scene. The inner drive to be perfect leads
many gifted children to perceive themselves as failures even when external evidence indicates
high-level success. It is in the child's reaction to this perceived failure that the danger lies
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1996).

Relaying some positive feedbacks or simply complimenting on the works of intellectually


gifted student rather than evaluating it, helps direct the child's attention toward strategies for
improvement without regard for failure or success(Albert, 1978). This can be particularly
valuable in helping the student to understand the real view of enjoying the task without pushing
oneself too hard and being pressured in achieving a great performance.

Gifted children have special learning needs, which if not met, can lead to frustration, a
loss of self-esteem, boredom, laziness and underachievement (Crocker, 2004). When a person
does not meet what he needs to attain, of course it would be very hard to achieve the goals that
are supposedly present within the field of education, same as to the intellectually gifted students.
Not only that, some psychological difficulties may arouse such as frustration, loss of self-esteem,
and other problems stated beforehand. This challenges could leave some great damage with the
intellectually student that instead of learning and progressing, the student is deteriorating.

Traditional classroom does not suit for the intellectually gifted student because of the
cognitive abilities that they acquire comparing it to the normal or average students. The
intellectually gifted student’s level of thinking is above average wherein when they try to learn
and think with average people, it leads to a great struggle due to annoyance or boredom. If the
intellectually gifted child is not recognized, he quickly becomes bored and disinterested with the
content the student must be learning. In this kind of situation, the student’s learning progress is
not accelerating; instead it is either decelerating or slowing down. According to Farmer (1993),
gifted learners, although possessing higher levels of intelligence than their peers, are
disadvantaged in the sense that they frequently do not, or are not given the opportunity, to reach
their full potential. On the other hand, intellectually gifted students whom potentials and
capabilities are being disregarded or unnoticed causes underachievement that is opposite on what
the student should be obtaining.

A universal challenge for gifted students is that traditional classroom is incompatible or


inconsistent with their abilities. The student may be able to excel in most or some areas, while
they struggle with others (Wolk, R. (2001). Intellectually gifted students who are normally high
achievers, naturally creative and impressively excellent are the people whom education needs
should be specialized and integrated in order to retain and improve the skills capabilities they are
exhibiting. Furthermore, if the student’s learning prerequisites is unfastened, this might lead to a
great harm to their expertise.

Heylighen (n.d) a Belgian cyberneticist expresses his idea about gifted people and their
problems by believing that "Highly gifted people have a number of personality traits that set
them apart, and that are not obviously connected to the traits of intelligence, IQ, or creativity that
are most often used to define the category. Many of these traits have to do with their particularly
intense feelings and emotions, others with their sometimes awkward social interactions".

An intellectually gifted person have this multiple number of personality traits and that it
has nothing to do with the intelligence,IQ,creativity or extraordinary credentials carry out by this
gifted people. The personality traits they possess are associated with the feelings and emotion the
gifted person acquires. Moreover, this traits are most of the time is misinterpreted by the people
in the environment and of the society that causes them to also doubt their oneself and that can
leads into difficulty in social relationships.

Dower (n.d) expresses her idea about challenges of intellectually gifted students by
quoting that "Giftedness comes with surprising set of problem, ranging from perfectionism and
competitiveness to friendship issues". Since gifted people have these extraordinary credentials
which makes them different with the others of their same age and environment, they also have
this astonishing set of challenges. They are always aiming to become perfect to the point that it
turned into matter. Expectation towards the environment is an issue, because of the pressure
society is imposing to them and it is very alarming especially knowing that it could be harmful
for them physically and mentally. Furthermore, due to their intellectual state and depth, gifted
people are having trouble in building and keeping friends.

The magnitude of the problem has been evident in the Philippines in the present and the
issue about the struggles of intellectually gifted students is observed mainly in Science high
schools specifically, the Philippines Science High School (PSHS). Students who reside in this
institution is known to take a curriculum that is focused on Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) considering that this school fosters students with high aptitude in both
Science and Mathematics (Philippines Science High School System, n.d). Given that they are
focused in these specific areas, it is just convenient for them in the National Achievement tests
that are conducted in the Philippines for chosen grade levels.

However, based from the study of De La Salle University in Manila (2008), tests score
from the achievement test has been oscillated since 2005 wherein the mean score for their
Science exam is 39.5 only which mean only 1.8% of the students’ attained mastery in their
science level curriculum. There are different factors that is said to be one of the reasons why out
of all the subjects in their test, Science was one of the lowest. Students of the Philippine Science
High School have been struggling for so many years trying to meet ends.

The quality of the education in the Philippines has been declining. It is already evident in
the National tests scores and as this goes on, it could immediately change the school’s system
towards their students trying to ace the test results once again (Racca, R. & Lasaten, R., 2016).
Affecting science students’ perception about the curriculum given to them and at some point it
would become a struggle for them to keep up the levels the whole country is rooting them for.

The researchers aim to distinguish the struggles of Philippine Science High School
Students, school year 2018-2019 who are considerably one of the intellectually gifted students.
The study’s general objective is to identify what is the possible and effective specialized
educational program designed specifically for the respective students. Another factor for this
research goal is to provide a guidance on how they can manage all the pressure even at a young
age.

According to Francis Heylighen- a Belgian cyberneticist – from Vrije Universiteit


Brussel, stated that highly gifted people have a number of personality traits that set them apart,
and that are not obviously connected to the traits of intelligence, IQ, or creativity that are most
often used to define the category. The struggles and challenges faced by the intellectually gifted
students are typically misunderstood and underestimated by peers, by society, and usually even
by themselves. As such, most of their gifts are actually underutilized, and they rarely fulfill their
full creative potential.

“In my experience, the challenges that multi-talented adults face--are not perceived,
understood or appreciated by most educators, parents, business leaders, therapists, life
& executive coaches, and other assorted professionals-- because they lack information
and understanding about giftedness and gifted adult development” (Azpeitia, 2013).

As mentioned in the issue brief developed by Tennessee Initiative for Gifted Education
Reform and the Tennessee Association for the Gifted (2003), a study by Westberg, Archambault,
Dobyns, and Slavin (1993) noted, “…84 percent of regular classroom teachers do not modify the
curriculum for gifted students and, as a result, gifted students waste much of their time in the
regular classroom” (p. 1). In that case, integrated educational curriculum is essential for
intellectually gifted students in order to meet the educational needs and have a faster
development in brushing up the skills and talents the apprentice have. According to Curriculum
Goals (2014), it takes less time for the gifted student to learn new material and master new skills.
One strategy for differentiating instruction for gifted students is to structure lessons and units in
such a way that capable students spend a larger proportion of their time on higher order thinking,
using the content they have mastered to further develop their understanding of the concepts and
practice the skills of critical thinking.

The main purpose of this study is to recognize the struggles, intellectually gifted students
experience. Specifically in the designated schools which are Special Education Center (SPED)
and Philippine Science High School (PSHS) wherein the giftedness qualifications are already
evident. Recognizing such struggles would help. First would be the teachers in knowing what
kind of learning style is applicable knowing that there are certain cases where conflicts arise
when basic student needs are not reached. Second are for the students themselves to help them
distinguish these struggles and knowing how to deal with it. And lastly, the school themselves
would be familiar with the struggles and can help their students cope with these issues.

Having a sense of empathy for them from average students would be a big change
already on how they perceive their different challenges in school. It is more on making the
people around them understand that having all the qualities of a gifted student can only be an
advantage since most of the time; they experience the different disadvantages in different extent.
That is where the research comes in, being the medium for people to have enough knowledge of
what goes around an intellectually gifted student.
REFERENCES
Crocker, T. (2004) “Underachievement: Is our vision too narrowed and blinkered?
‘Fools step in where angels fear to tread.” in Gifted, 131:10-14

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention.
New York: HarperCollins.

Dower,E.(n.d).9 Challenges facing Gifted children.

Retrievedfrom:http://www.lagovistaisd.net/upload/page/0060/docs/9%20Challenges%20
Facing%20Gifted%20Children.pdf

Farmer, D. (Ed.) (1993) Gifted Children need help? A guide for parents and teachers. Strathfield:
NSW: NSW Association for Gifted and Talented Children.

Howe, M. J., & Smith, J. (1988). Calendar calculating in "idiot savants": How do they do it?
British Journal of Psychology, 79(3),371-386.

Roedell, W. C. (1984). Social/Emotional Development: Vulnerabilities of highly


gifted children. Roeper Review, 6(5), 127-130.

Wolk, R. (2001). Perspective-mission: Possible. Teacher Magazine. 12(8), 3.

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