Gifted children who do not achieve often have problems with motivation and socioemotional adjustment and may also have learning disabilities. This article examines factors such as attachment difficulties and maternal depression as these may contribute to underachievement. The article reviews past and current practices of gifted identification and argues that schools have an important role in the early identification of socioemotional problems and learning difficulties, as these can create barriers to learning and achievement. Although Gagné did include underachievers in his Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent, he has also argued that only achieving children should be included in academic talent development programs, and he supports a separate pathway for gifted underachievers. This article demonstrates that such a pathway can be achieved through an inclusive model for gifted achievers and underachievers. A model involves the early triaging of children through identification of giftedness, socioemotional problems, and learning difficulties.

This case study outlines the challenges of eight Australian mothers with intellectually gifted preschoolers. The ideal ways of nurturing children’s giftedness, the parents’ role in early identification and the effect of maternal depression and possible association with twice exceptionality (gifted with a disorder) are discussed. The narratives of case study parents then describe how and whether the needs of their preschoolers were understood or met in early childhood services, and the advice they received about early entry. It was found that early entry met the needs of children whose parents chose this acceleration option and that the preschoolers who missed out because of intervention by their educators did not fare so well. Findings also indicated an urgent need for the inclusion of compulsory early childhood giftedness courses for Australian pre-service educators and an equally urgent need for professional development courses about giftedness for educators already working in early childhood services.

A relatively pervasive “silence” exists concerning giftedness in Australian preservice early childhood teacher courses. There is also a lack of research about educator attitudes to giftedness and programming in Australian early childhood services. This study, consisting of a survey and interviews, is intended to help to fill the research gap. A total of 184 early childhood educators were surveyed in relation to their knowledge and attitudes about giftedness, and 10 of those respondents were also interviewed. A purposive sample of eight parents whose gifted preschoolers had been recommended for early entry by a psychologist were also interviewed. Findings indicate that early childhood educators are at a loss in relation to gifted children’s intellectual, social, and emotional needs that are neither understood nor met according to their parents. Compulsory preservice coursework about giftedness is recommended.

No abstract

Much has been written about acceleration (Feldhusen, Hannon & Black, 1995), teaching strategies (Kitano, 1982; 1989), and underachievement (Clark, 1992) of gifted and talented primary and secondary school children. Studies such as those of Gross (1986) indicate that educational programming for the gifted is largely dictated by teacher perception and expectation. Other research shows that the learning needs of young gifted children often remain unmet (Gross, 1995). This study explores early childhood teachers’ perceptions of young gifted and talented children and their programming needs through open interviews with three rural teachers. The findings indicate that the gifted children in their care, aside from perhaps the exceptionally or profoundly gifted (Harrison, 1995, p.22), still remain unidentified; and that the teachers see their roles primarily as facilitators, reserving the use of a more interventionist approach mainly for children with deficit needs. The outcome of the study points to the need for further research and a possible re-examination of preservice and in-service teacher education in the area of young gifted and talented children.