Why is it that some gifted students are highly motivated and driven to succeed while other gifted students struggle, seem disinterested and unmotivated, and are seemed destined to fail? And are there ways to address the issues and provide the interventions necessary to promote a more positive attitude toward achievement for these students?
First of all, let’s look at what makes a gifted student successful. Those who are achievers share some common factors. They are motivated because they find value in what they are doing or they believe what they are doing will produce a valuable outcome for them. In other words, they find value in their school environment.
Secondly, they believe in themselves and feel they have the skills to be successful. They are self-efficacious. They have high academic self-perceptions and are confident that they have the ability to perform well.
And thirdly, gifted achievers know how to implement self-regulating strategies. They set realistic goals for themselves and implement the strategies necessary to reach them.
Gifted students do well when they have a positive attitude toward achievement. But not all gifted students feel this way, and there are many possible reasons why.
Giftedness can often mask underlying problems like physical, cognitive, emotional, or psychological disorders, or learning disabilities or other health issues that impair learning. Any of these can lead to underachievement in school.
These are serious issues that should be dealt with before academic underachievement is addressed. Disabilities can be the cause of academic problems while underachievement is the symptom. Students should be screened for health issues and interventions should be applied where appropriate.
Another possible cause of underachievement is a mismatch between the gifted student and the school environment. The attitudes gifted students have toward their teachers have a huge impact on how motivated they are to receive and follow instructions.
It’s also important for students to have positive attitudes toward their school, to value their education, and to be able to set goals for themselves and regulate their behavior in a way that will optimize their path toward those goals. They need to have confidence in their abilities and have the desire to put in the work ethic needed to develop those abilities.
Providing a Sense of Intrinsic Value
A positive achievement attitude requires the gifted student to value what he or she is learning. This value can be intrinsic and based on a natural interest in the content or methods being used. Or the value can be utilitarian and based on the understanding that what is being used will be valuable.
If students don’t see value in the outcome of an activity or have no interest in it, they will not enjoy doing work in the classroom nor will they want to complete their homework. The motivation will not be there. So, teachers have to build value into the educational experience.
A student may like a mathematics class because he or she is interested in becoming an astronaut, or likes working with numbers, or wants to earn a scholarship with high grades. Each student has a different reason for wanting to achieve success, but all of them hold some kind of value in what they are learning, either intrinsic or utilitarian.
Intrinsic value comes from the pure enjoyment a student gets while engaged in a learning activity. When they like what they are doing, they are intrinsically motivated to do well. The subject matter is interesting to them, optimally challenging, not too easy or too hard.
Teachers can address intrinsic motivation by learning what interests students and by integrating these interests into instruction strategies. Offer the students choices over projects and assignments and involve them in alternative learning techniques. Give them control over how they want to present what they have learned – an oral presentation, a written report, a video, or some other form of media.
In addition to interest, projects should also generate challenges somewhat above the skill level of the students so that they are at least moderately challenged. Boredom can be a recipe for failure. The use of multimedia or computers can add a level of interest and engagement.
Complex topics can be introduced as interesting or challenging rather than difficult, to set the proper psychological and motivational framework needed for success.
Reward, Recognition Provides Utility Value
Students may not enjoy an activity in school but they will still find value in it if they see a reward of some kind of positive outcome for them. If they see it adding to the pursuit of their goals, either immediate or long-term, they will find it beneficial.
Teachers should provide various forms of extrinsic reward for completing tasks successfully. These can include praise, stickers, high grades, prizes, public recognition for peers or adults, or special privileges.
Positive comments can be very effective in promoting self-efficacy and a positive attitude. The teacher (or parent) can say “You really know how to calculate area” (or “solve word problems”). Or the teacher can make general comments like “good job” or “well done.”
Any linking of ability and success, especially early on, will have a strong effect on the student’s motivation and performance.
Care should be observed, however, so that external rewards do not diminish any internal, intrinsic motivation that students already have.
Explaining the purpose for lessons and assignments at the beginning of each can help students understand how this learning will be important to them later on and how it can meet their own goals whatever they may be.
Importance of Environmental Perception
Gifted students need to feel comfortable in their classroom and school. Teachers need to create the kind of accepting and supporting environment that gifted students, as well as disadvantaged students, need to perform to their best capability.
Students’ attitudes toward school and teacher have a strong influence on their motivation. They need to see the school and teacher as friendly and reinforcing. If a student says, “My teacher doesn’t like me,” that can indicate a serious problem that the student won’t see a connection between ability and outcome. Unmotivated students often display negative attitudes toward their school environment.
In order to be successful within a school system, a student should understand the system, feel that he or she fits into the system, and is able to master the system. This is not always true for minority students and students from diverse cultures. They often feel disenfranchised from the culture of the school. If the culture of every student is valued, there will be positive changes to achievement, motivation, attitude, and behavior.
