I have been thinking about this Gifted and Talented thing.....

[seeker]

...and I was wondering if anyone else worries about the "politics" of it. I am with the people who think that saying that 10% or 5% or whatever of children are G&T is meaningless, and that labelling them is more likely to be damaging than not. I think there are G&T children in the world, but certainly not 5%! But I also wonder whether there is any correlation between that 5% of children and the most articulate, middle class parents? ANd if so, does calling their children G&T (as opposed to just very clever and motivated) cause the parents to shut up and stop pushing the school and the government to improve things for the 90%? Of am I too cynical for a Sunday morning? Is there any way of finding out, for example, how many children on the G&T register also get free school meals?

The people who get most out of the Summer Schools are the Very Gifted with poor people skills. They gain by mixing with their peers and 'ordinarily' Gifted pupils who have a better EQ.

I disagree with that. I think that it would be horrific to hink that exceptionally bright children can never learn to be at ease with their peers. They may not do it intuitivly, but they can be taught.

Or do you feel that being very very clever means that you must by definition have such poor people skills that you can never learn to interact appropriatly?

I've met some amazingly bright people in my time, and oddly enough they could interact with their age group. peers or not.

possibly this is something that schools could concentrate on for the able,' how to interact lessons'.

I met many bright, able people at Oxford (as I'm sure many on here did). TBH the one's with poor social skills were unable to interact with their fellow bright students either. The bright students were no less forgiving of poor social skills than the members of a mixed ability classroom. Being able to interact well with anyone is a real gift- and gets you a long way.

It is difficult to be at ease with your peers when the self-same peers call you boff, geek etc and make fun of you.

Circle of freinds is good for this sort of thing, and works for children of all ability levels. I think to say 'They will never interact' is counterproductive and risks being a self fulfilling prophecy.

fembear, yes that is true, but bullying should be stopped, whatever the cause, that isn't a G and T issue. And separating the kids out more is hardly going to help it it?

Teaching them how to cope is far more productive.

Well that doesn;t go away even at Oxford if your social skills are poor. The person I can think of with the poorest social skills in college (and he tried to join in, just got it horribly wrong repeatedly) tried to commit suicide in the end Luckily he didn't manage; presumably he was not having a happy time- even in place where he was surrounded by his intellectual peers. I agree with MB- far more important to get that sorted.

Obviously I go to quite a few talks etc by people with AS/HFA now. And they all say that academically they're fine (often excellent), but they absolutely need more social skills training and that is the thing that makes the biggest difference to their lives.

I went to a talk on Friday by someone with HFA. He was lovely. He had excellent academic success (especially for someone who didnt learn to talk until he was 6). Lots of degrees. He was asked at the end whether he felt his school years had been too focussed on academic achievements. He said he felt he would have benefitted from dropping 2 O levels and spending that time in social skills training.

He lost one job in the 80's because of his inability to work in a team. He was also asked whether it was easier for someone like him now. He said maybe there would be more understanding at school but the workplace had become harder and harder since the 80's because of the focus on team work. That social skills were essential.

And he is a computer programmer, which is a job I always imagined you could get away with being geeky and poor at interacting. Apparently not.

But you can't arrange their lives do that they are with other highly gifted children all the time! SURELY the best thing is to acknowledge their giftedness but work all out to making them as much like other kids as possible. After all,they will have to join the real world some time! And it's all very well to be very gifted at playing the clarinet or at high jump or maths - but being gifted at making friends is important too. You can't exist in a talent-bubble!

Fantastic post not just me then. erm wonder why it is at bottom of list!!!!!!!!!

Because it is over a year old DHHHHHHHHHHH!

Also surely this board should be about helping,supporting and advice not debating!

Why not helping, supporting, advice - and debating?

The head teacher at my son's school said they do not necessarily put the top 5-10% of the class on the register. She takes the opinion that gifted and talented children are not always the most able (which I agree with). She said she includes children who she thinks need 'keeping an eye on' to ensure they don't underachieve. Teachers, is that right? Can they interpret who they put on the register in that way? Seems very reasonable and sensible, just wondered whether they can do that.

I see this has been bumped from last year

See martianbishop on Sun 16-Sep-07 13:24:27

martianbishop - I have been looking for your views, glad I found them and very insightful and helpful as ever.

It must be that time of year again,