Abstract
The thesis that this chapter summarises explored the experiences of school for one group of gifted and talented adolescents in Aotearoa New Zealand and in particular, the understandings that the students, their parents and their teachers had about the achievement and underachievement of gifted learners. The study was underpinned by a phenomenological methodology that prioritised the perceptions and beliefs of the gifted and talented adolescent participants. The findings were drawn together in three main themes. The first theme related to the way culture and context influenced the students’ understandings of what it meant to be gifted and talented within the particular sociocultural milieu of a New Zealand school. The second problematised the concept of ‘potential’ as an enigma and a nebulous term when linked to the underachievement of gifted and talented learners. The third theme related to the complexities around identity development for gifted and talented students as they worked to find a ‘fit’ for themselves in the context of a New Zealand school.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anyan, S. (2012). The genius issue. North and South, July, pp. 52–59.
Austin, R., & Hastwell, A. (2010). Max your marks. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.
Balchin, T. (2009). The future of the English definition of giftedness. In T. Balchin, B. Hymer & D. J. Mathews (Eds.), The Routledge international companion to gifted education (pp. 50–55). London: Routledge.
Black, J. (2007). Greater expectations. The Listener, June 9, pp. 15–23.
Borland, J. H. (2008). Identification. In J. A. Plucker & C. M. Callahan (Eds.), Critical issues and practices in gifted education (pp. 261–280). Waco: Prufrock Press.
Braggett, E. J., & Moltzen, R. (2000). Programs and practices for identifying and nurturing giftedness and talent in Australia and New Zealand. In K. A. Heller, F. J. Mönks, R. J. Sternberg & R. F. Subotnik (Eds.), International handbook of giftedness and talent (pp. 779–798). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Butler-Por, N. (1993). Underachieving gifted students. In K. A. Heller, F. J. Mönks & A. H. Passow (Eds.), International handbook of research and development of giftedness and talent (pp. 649–667). Oxford: Perganion Press.
Campbell, J. R., & Verna, M. A. (2007). Effective parental influence: academic home climate linked to children’s achievement. Educational Research and Evaluation, 13(6), 501–519.
Chisholm, D. (2010). Who’s brainy now? North and South, May, 53–60.
Clark, B. (2002). Growing up gifted. (6th ed.) Upper Saddle River: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Coil, C. (2005). Underachievement: What is it? What causes it? E-Zine, 1(3). Retrieved from http://www.carolyncoil.com/ezine13.htm. Accessed 21 October 2016.
Colangelo, N., & Davis, G. A. (2003). Introduction and overview. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education. 3rd ed. (pp. 3–9). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Dai, D. Y. (2010). The nature and nurture of giftedness: a new framework for understanding gifted education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Davis, G., & Rimm, S. (2004). Education of the gifted and talented. (5th ed.) Boston: Pearson Education.
Delisle, J. (1994). Dealing with the stereotype of underachievement. Gifted Child Today, 17(6), 20–21.
Delisle, J. (1999, June). Reversal of fortune: how parents unintentionally undermine a gifted child’s self-worth. Parenting for High Potential, 30, 12–13.
Delisle, J. (2006). Parenting gifted kids. Waco: Prufrock Press.
Delisle, J., & Berger, S. (1990). Underachieving gifted students. ERIC Digest E478. Reston, VA: ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education.
Eddles-Hirsch, K., Vialle, W., McCormick, J., & Rogers, K. (2012). Insiders or outsiders: the role of social context in the peer relations of gifted students. Roeper Review, 34(1), 53–62.
Ehrich, L. C. (2003). Phenomenology: the quest for meaning. In T. O’Donoghue & K. Punch (Eds.), Qualitative educational research in action: doing and reflecting (pp. 42–69). London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Kanevsky, L., & Keighley, T. (2003). To produce or not to produce? Understanding boredom and the honor in underachievement. Roeper Review, 26(1), 20–28.
Keen, D. (2005). Talent in the new millennium: a two-year research study of gifted education. International Education Journal, 6(2), 206–217.
Kirby, A., & Townsend, M. (2001). Conversations with accelerated and non-accelerated gifted students. APEX: The New Zealand Journal of Gifted Education, 14, 1–7.
Knudson, D. (2006). Gifted education in New Zealand primary schools. Wellington: NZCER Press 1878–2005.
Laugesen, R. (2011, February 12–18). Achieving child, controlling mother. The Listener, 227, 17–20.
Lee, L. (1999). Teachers’ conceptions of gifted and talented young children. High Ability Studies, 10(2), 183–196.
van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. London: State University of New York Press.
Matthews, D. J., & Foster, J. F. (2009). Being smart about gifted education: a guidebook for educators and parents. (2nd ed.) Scottsdale: Great Potential Press.
McAlpine, D. (2004). What do we mean by gifted and talented? Concepts and definitions. In D. McAlpine & R. Moltzen (Eds.), Gifted and talented: New Zealand perspectives. 2nd ed. (pp. 33–66). Palmerston North: Kanuka Grove Press.
Miller, E. M. (2008). Conceptions of giftedness. In J. A. Plucker & C. M. Callahan (Eds.), Critical issues and practices in gifted education (pp. 107–117). Waco: Prufrock Press.
Miller, G. (2011). Gifted boys: challenges and solutions in developing personal identity. In R. Moltzen (Ed.), Gifted and talented: New Zealand perspectives. 3rd ed. (pp. 358–378). Auckland: Pearson.
Ministry of Education. (2012). Gifted and talented students: meeting their needs in New Zealand schools. Retrieved from http://gifted.tki.org.nz/For-schools-and-teachers. Accessed 26 October 2016.
Moltzen, R. (2011). Historical perspectives. In R. Moltzen (Ed.), Gifted and talented: New Zealand perspectives. 3rd ed. (pp. 1–30). Auckland: Pearson.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Neihart, M. (2006). Dimensions of underachievement, difficult contexts, and perceptions of self. Roeper Review, 28(4), 196–202.
Neihart, M., & Betts, G. (2010). Different types of giftedness. Retrieved from http://gifted.tki.org.nz/for-parents-and-whanau. Accessed 26 October 2016.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. (3rd ed.) Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Phillipson, S. N. (2007). A framework for the study of sociocultural perspectives of giftedness. In S. N. Phillipson & M. McCann (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness: sociocultural perspectives (pp. 1–34). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Reid, K., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2005). Exploring lived experience. The Psychologist, 18(1), 20–23.
Reis, S. M. (2009). Turning points and future directions in gifted education and talent development. In T. Balchin, B. Hymer & D. J. Matthews (Eds.), The Routledge international companion to gifted education (pp. 317–324). London: Routledge.
Reis, S. M., & McCoach, D. B. (2000). The underachievement of gifted students: what do we know and where do we go? Gifted Child Quarterly, 44(3), 152–170.
Renold, E., & Allan, A. (2006). Bright and beautiful: high achieving girls, ambivalent femininities, and the feminization of success in the primary school. Discourses: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 27(4), 457–473.
Riley, T., Bevan-Brown, J., Bicknell, B., Carroll-Lind, J., Kearney, A. (2004). The extent, nature and effectiveness of planned approaches in New Zealand schools for providing for gifted and talented students. Report prepared for the New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved from http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/curriculum/5451. Accessed 26 October 2016.
Rimm, S. (2006). When gifted students underachieve: what you can do about it. Waco: Prufrock Press.
Robertson, E. H. (2003, August 1–5). Growing into the gift: a fifteen-year odyssey from underachievement to empowerment. Paper presented at Gifted 2003: A Celebration Downunder, Adelaide, Australia.
Roeser, R., Galloway, M., Casey-Cannon, S., Watson, C., & Tan, L. (2008). Identity representations in patterns of school achievement and well-being among early adolescent girls. Journal of Early Adolescence, 28(1), 115–152.
Schroth, S. T., & Heifer, J. A. (2009). Practitioners’ conceptions of academic talent and giftedness: essential factors in deciding classroom and school composition. Journal of Advanced Academics, 20(3), 384–403.
Siegle, D. (2013). The underachieving gifted child. Waco: Prufrock Press.
Siegle, D., & McCoach, D. B. (2005). Motivating gifted students. Waco: Prufrock Press.
Silverman, L. K. (Ed.) (1993). Counseling the gifted and talented. Denver: Love.
Smith, J., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: theory, method and research. London: Sage.
Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research. 3rd ed. (pp. 443–466). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Tannenbaum, A. J. (2003). Nature and nurture of giftedness. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (pp. 45–59). Boston: Pearson Education.
Tapper, L. (2014). “Being in the world of school”: a phenomenological exploration of experiences for gifted and talented adolescents (unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Terman, L. M. (1925). Genetic studies of genius: volume 1. Mental and physical traits of a thousand gifted children. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Winner, E. (2000). The origins and ends of giftedness. American Psychologist, 55(1), 159–169.
Ziegler, A., & Stoeger, H. (2004). Differential effects of motivational orientation on self-confidence and helplessness among high achievers and underachievers. Gifted and Talented International, 19(2), 61–68.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tapper, L. (2017). Gifted and Talented Adolescents’ Experiences of School in Aotearoa New Zealand. In: Ballam, N., Moltzen, R. (eds) Giftedness and Talent. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6701-3_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6701-3_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6700-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6701-3
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)