A Guest Post: Gifted Boys

This time I have asked one of my students in my summer online class on Special Populations in Gifted Education to contribute her perspective on gifted boys. Her name is Jennifer McElroy, and she stated in introducing herself to the class, "My goal is to be able to change my view in relation to stereotypes of special populations and to view these students as individuals. Each student deserves equitable treatment and by taking this class I hope to gain the skills to help the student reveal themselves as individuals to the school and to their community."

As one of her assignments, she chose to study issues surrounding the education of gifted boys and here is what she wrote on the topic:

The reason that I chose to study gifted boys is based upon personal interest. My son’s pediatrician and educators have recommended he be tested by the Spark’s program at the University of Alabama, Birmingham for both Asberger’s and giftedness. Therefore, to be supportive of my son and to educate myself on a diagnosis which may be in his future, I chose to study the gifted male. I must say that I was surprised at what I learned.

As a female, I have always felt that being smart and pretty portrayed to everyone that I was a woman of my own means who understood who I was and needed no one else to validate me. Based upon the video and the articles assigned to us, gifted males have an inward desire to maintain a positive, “cool” social image at whatever cost. Unfortunately, the cost is usually academics and the pursuit of the gifted male to be accepted socially into society is causing gifted males to underachieve academically.

I believe that the videos and articles given to us for research present separate issues. In Dr. Warren Farrell’s video clip “The Boy Crisis” (8:59 minutes) we can see the impact of the Woman’s movement upon male education and how, in order for gifted males to avoid an academic “feminine identity”, they began to do poorly in school in an effort to assert their male identify.

In the article “Managing His Image: The Challenge Facing the Gifted Male” by Thomas P. Hebert, Hebert discusses how male efforts to maintain their masculine identity result in their sacrificing of their own gifted potential which consequently leads to underachievement. Educators must now look at ways they can reverse this underachievement while helping the gifted male to maintain his identity as both male and as gifted.

The article “Mentors for Gifted Underachieving Males: Developing Potential and Realizing Promise” by Thomas P. Hebert and F. Richard Olenchak (see references at the bottom of the post) offers a solution to reversal of the underachieving male through a mentor/ protégé relationship.

The video presentation entitled “The Boy Crisis”, which is a video clip of a seminar hosted by Dr. Warren Farrell, briefly discusses the woman’s movement in the late 1960’s and the effects it had on the education of males. Dr. Farrell has been studying gender issues since the 1960’s. His first book, The Liberated Man, was published from a woman’s and feminists’ perspective. According to his biography located on his website, he began to notice the fact that males were being misrepresented and he began to write about the reasons behind the decline of the male in academia. In the video, Dr. Farrell begins by giving a brief sociological background surrounding the sociological impact of the women’s movement on males. He states that in the 1960’s, women were considered minorities in college and were receiving minority scholarships. By 1978, males had actually become a minority in college, but the scholarships were still going to females. Although he does not go into further detail, it is easy to deduct from this information that male attendance in college began to decline due to the lack of scholarships available. Therefore, gifted males, whose family could not afford college tuition, were forced to give up a college future due to a lack of funding. At this point, fewer males were going to school, therefore fathers were unable to afford to send their sons to school, and the cycle began… and the boy crises continues.

Dr. Farrell also states that from 1980-2001, there was an increase of 71% of boys who said that they did not like school. Dr. Farrell says that this is due to some schools getting rid of recess time. He specifically mentions schools disallowing dodge ball to be played if recess is allowed at school. Even though he did not come out and directly say it, I feel like he believes that schools are feminizing their programs and the product is feminized males. I have always heard a lot of commentary about the removal of dodge ball from schools and the fear some parents believe that these type of actions taken by schools are causing males to become “sissies”. In “Should Dodge Ball be Allowed in Schools?” by Chris D’Angelo, he states as follows:

The sad thing is, our overprotective society has started banning the sport in schools across the country. They feel it's too dangerous, and that it encourages bullies to pick on weaker students. I however, see the game differently. In Dodgeball, anyone can be the hero on any day, in any game. Your position does not dictate your playtime or importance.

In the article “Managing His Image: The Challenge Facing the Gifted Male” Hebert discusses what I believe to be the product of feminization of schools: gifted male identity crises which leads to underachievement. The article discusses masculine mystique which is a value system that is “…compromised of a set of beliefs that defines what our society regards as masculine. A feature of this belief is that vulnerability, weakness, and academic success in school are signs of feminism to be avoided at all costs.” (n.d.). We can ascertain from the information that gifted males are sacrificing their gifted abilities so that they will be able to maintain their masculine image. The article also reads that if academic success is not accepted in the male’s social culture, then the gifted male will sacrifice his academics to be accepted by his peers. The product of this sacrifice is underachievement.

So how do we reverse underachievement? Hebert suggests that educators can form support groups where gifted males meet with similar peers to discuss how to balance giftedness and the ability to maintain both their male and social identity. Hubert also recommends that gifted males read biographies of other gifted men who have faced similar situations and research how these men were able to reverse the process of underachievement.

A more in depth study of reversal of underachievement is discussed in the article “Mentors for Gifted Underachieving Males: Developing Potential and Realizing Promise” by Thomas P. Hebert and F. Richard Olenchak (See reference below). The article focused on the results of a study which was conducted in order to examine the lives of three gifted young men and to understand how a significant adult engaged each subject in a relationship that ultimately reversed underachievement via a mentor/ protégé relationship.

The criteria for the study subjects were: 1. subjects were male, 2. recognized and referred during his public schools years for gifted characteristics, and 3. currently underachieving academically as reflected by a preponderance of grades of C or lower. The core results of the study were the influence of a significant adult on a young person. Three subcategories were 1. reinforced the importance of the mentor’s open minded and non judgmental characteristics, 2. mentor’s consistent and personalized social/emotional support and advocacy, and 3. mentors strength and interest-based strategies for intervention to reverse underachievement.

The statement I most connected with in the article was actually an implication, not a direct result of the study. One of the things I have learned in this class is that parental support of gifted children is essential to successful attainment of identity and full academic potential. The authors state that, “The case reinforces the notion that parents are often so overwhelmed with their own circumstances that they are unable to provide such opportunities.” This statement reinforces what I feel that I have learned throughout this class. Parents, rather over worked or simply not interested in the furtherment of education, are not able to provide their gifted children with experiences that a mentor could provide. Therefore, in communities where male leadership is scarce, mentorship is a necessary and effective tool to the prevention of underachievement in males.

Now that we have seen how gifted males struggle with identity can lead to underachievement, we need to look at how gender affects underachievement. In the article “Gender and Genius” by Barbara Kerr, Kerr discusses how prescribed gender roles limit the career choices of gifted boys and girls. Instead of focusing on the career choices, I am going to focus on two factors: 1. Factors that destroy giftedness in each gender, and 2. Periods at which each gender is at the highest potential of underachievment.

A danger for gifted boys is what Kerr refers to as “kindergarten red-shirting”. This practice refers to the act of the parents delaying their sons entry into kindergarten so that he can grow in mass and therefore be bigger than the others children in his class and better in sports. The danger in this practice is that parents are putting their sons in schools past their point of learning readiness and late arrival in school coupled with a parent’s focus on athletics over academics is almost certain to cause a gifted male to underachieve.

The most prevalent time for male underachievement is late primary through the high school years. The reason for this goes back to our early discussion of how gifted males struggle with their identity as both gifted and as a male. Males feel that they must sacrifice high academics for a masculine, athletic image. They fear that embracing academic giftedness would make them look weak, feminine or fear the possibility of being labeled a nerd.

The danger for gifted girls concerns the area of early reading development. Girls, having earlier reading readiness than boys, can be denied the ability to develop early reading abilities due to schools beginning reading instruction at the time when boys are ready. Most girls are ready to read a year earlier than boys so the schools miss the period at which girls are at the peak of readiness to begin to learn how to read.

Gifted girls' highest period of underachievement is during her college years and young adulthood. During this time, the gifted female becomes more concerned with the interests of her boyfriend or husband and she is willing to abandon her interest in order to support his. Therefore, the gifted female accepts her role as submissive, supporting female and sacrifices her own academic future.

In conclusion, the downfall of gifted boys is their struggle with their male identity. The articles have discussed many ways to help reverse underachievement in males. Since I am not yet a teacher, I am not aware of any support programs that my local school has to support gifted males. However, if I were a teacher, and were asked to provide some type of support group or program to assist gifted males, I would suggest the following ways. Since programs are adjusted to support age and maturity level, I will focus on the age I hope to teach one day, ages 15-18.

PREVENTION

The best way to avoid underachievement is to prevent it. Therefore, a system of checks and balances might help gifted males from falling into the traps of underachievement.

1st step: Each student must write individual goals.

2nd step: Students are placed into groups based upon goals and common interest.

3rd step: A leader is chosen from the group. The leader monitors and follows up with each team member with the progress of their goals. If the student leader becomes concerned that someone in their group is not meeting their goals, they plan mediation between the student, the student leader, and the teacher.

If it is discovered in mediation that a student is starting to underachieve, the student would no longer be allowed to work with the group until all issues are resolved. However, it would be the responsibility of the teacher to help the gifted male in every way.

1st: Approach- Approach the student and see if they are going through a difficult time in their life that is keeping them from obtaining their goals.

2nd: Counsel- If the student is going through a personal situation, recommend counseling.

3rd: Differentiate- Allow a differentiation in the student’s program until their personal conflict is resolved. For instance, if the student feels that working with others would be beneficial, allow them to go back to their original group on a part time bases.

4th: Respect- Never give up on a student! No matter how long it takes, keep modifying their curriculum, keep up with counseling, keep providing services such as mentorship, etc… until the student is once again able to reach their full potential.

REFERENCES:

Hebert, T., & Olenchak, R. (2000). Mentors for gifted underachieving males: Developing potential and realizing promise. Gifted Child Quarterly, 44(3).

A New Era in my Gifted Blogging

I know I have been off the air for a long time. Today I am starting anew and I hope you will find the posts of interest.

I received in the mail this week, the latest edition of Gifted Child Today. It is probably the premier journal for practitioners (read "teachers") in gifted education. An annual subscription is $40 and it might just be the best $40 you spend in your professional life. It will also be of great benefit for teachers in all kinds of education, not just gifted education.

The previous edition has several good articles that will benefit you, like "Teaching Science to Gifted Children in the Primary Grades."

And another that you should read straight away by Kevin Besnoy, is called "Using Public Relations Strategies to Advocate for Gifted Programming at your School."

The new edition has an excellent article by Hebert and Pagnani, called, "Engaging Gifted Boys in New Literacies." This article talks about the issues faced by parents and teachers in engaging boys in reading and ends with 4 pages of excellent resources an boy-friendly books. It is not yet available online, but check back at the Gifted Child Today website regularly, because they invariably publish some of the articles online. This one is sure to be a winner and will almost certainly be published online.

Do yourself a favor - Get Gifted Child Today (not to be confused with Gifted Child Quarterly, which is a research journal - not the same at all). It is always chockful of practical, research based strategies to improve your teaching and engage your students, whether they are identified gifted or not. I know I sound like an advertisement for Prufrock Press who publishes the Journal, but if a product is helpful, I want you to know about it.

Enjoy the last of the summer. School starts soon :)