Fed: Gifted children at risk of emotional trauma: expert

AAP General News (Australia)
12-23-2005
Fed: Gifted children at risk of emotional trauma: expert

By Julie Tullberg

MELBOURNE, Dec 23 AAP - Gifted children who are unidentified - and lost - in the education
system remain at risk of emotional trauma despite efforts by education authorities to
address their needs, experts have warned.

Since a 2001 Senate inquiry into the education of gifted and talented children, many
state government programs have been adopted to cater for such students.

The Federal Department of Education, Science and Training has spent $2.3 million for
teachers' professional development in gifted education since the 2001 Senate inquiry.

But psychologists, educators and parents say the system is flawed, as gifted children
continue to fall through the cracks.

Victorian clinical psychologist Lesley Sword said underachievement is common in gifted
students whose needs are not met.

"The primary factor for underachievement in gifted students appears to be a lack of
recognition and support for intellectual potential during the early school years," Dr
Sword said.

"When highly intelligent children are not challenged academically at an early age,
they find the work too easy, become bored, develop poor work habits and often have negative
feelings towards school."

Dr Sword said gifted children were known to have learning difficulties that affected
their academic results and self-esteem.

"Their learning difficulty depresses these students' IQ and achievement scores and,
as they are frequently not identified as gifted, their educational needs in this area
are not met," she said.

"Their high intelligence enables them to compensate well enough for their weaknesses
to maintain year level expectations and so their learning difficulty goes undetected."

Victorian Education Minister Lynne Kosky has urged government schools to apply for
Select Entry Accelerated Learning (SEAL) programs, offered for gifted children.

"Not all of us fall into the gifted category - but the students who do need high-level
work to keep them engaged and to prevent them from becoming bored," Ms Kosky said.

"And of course in the long term, society has a lot to gain if we support and value
our brightest learners and thinkers - just as society has a lot to gain if we support
and value our young people who have exceptional creative and practical talents."

However, Shirley Taylor, the mother of gifted children, said her local Victorian government
secondary school could not cater for her son, Christopher, who was forced to study at
another school.

Mrs Taylor said the education system catered for the "average child", but not all children
with special needs like giftedness.

"When Chris was in primary school I felt for a while like we were biding time `til
he got to high school with no other options available to us," she said.

"His needs were only being met partially. I made a decision for him to skip grade six
and go to high school a year early.

"That was a very difficult decision for me to make. High school was much more accepting
about this process than the primary school."

Mrs Taylor said teachers needed to understand the needs of gifted children so they
could offer individualised programs.

Gill Napier, who developed a program for gifted children at Lalor Primary School, said
children should not have to do extra-curricular activities to cater for their needs.

"I would like to see it (gifted programs) recognised within the main curriculum - it
shouldn't have to be extra-curricular activity," Ms Napier said.

"It needs to be during their schooling."

AAP jat/ce/jt/de

KEYWORD: GIFTED NEWSFEATURE (WITH SIDEBAR,FACTBOX,PIX)

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