The Inverse Power Of Praise
blog.sokanu.com
blog.sokanu.com
I hear about this 'disadvantage' of being intelligent often, and I won't disagree that it can be crippling to learn to avoid challenges, but when discussing intelligent children in school, I think there is a much bigger pitfall. The picture of gifted children breezing through school is often painted without a second thought. From following the popular narrative of the elementary school and middle school classroom, you'd think that every above average student is a carbon copy of Lisa Simpson. The greater hurdle in my mind is that school caters to the average student. The most successful student in many cases is probably the very average child. Being excessively inquisitive and driven makes the classroom hell, because the system seeks efficiency, and that means punishing the margins for not fitting in with the crowd.
Sorry, but when I read "[s]chool work is a breeze, resulting in a little to no stress ..." it hits a nerve! :)
Also, about that quote, because I wrote it, I don't get the readers experience. But looking at it now I can completely get your frustration. I would feel the same thing, since I was frustrated going through school, even though I did fine. I wrote that line as more of a generalization.
"The most successful student in many cases is probably the very average child. Being excessively inquisitive and driven makes the classroom hell, because the system seeks efficiency, and that means punishing the margins for not fitting in with the crowd." This is bang on. Thanks so much for the great comment.