Teaching Bright Children

Abstract

The difference lies not simply in the fact that they think more rapidly and can assimilate or master subject matter, especially skills, more quickly. They think differently. They can generalize better. They can think in more original terms. They have more intellectual curiosity. These children do not require the amount of drill or repetition that a less agile mind would need. Consequently, they should be challenged, and simple acceleration is not the solution. If they are not challenged and if they are educated to feel that a superficial or verbalistic or easily memorized answer is satisfactory, they are quite likely to be content with this kind of answer. They, like those of us who are less bright, do not like to work hard if the significance of the work is not apparent. They may do poorly in school because the work bores them. This is not a characteristic of brightness. It is a characteristic of any human being who is not challenged. For 'Adapted from a paper presented before the Pennsylvania Conference for the Education of Exceptional Children, October 9, 1948.