Why is It Important to identify and understand underachievement?
Identification is important because underachievement is a behavior issue for students and, therefore, it can be changed (Delisle & Berger, 1990). Underachievement does not have to a permanent part of a gifted student’s life. If parents and educators can determine why a student is an underachiever then they can all begin to take steps to help change the behavior of the gifted student. This reversal in behavior is important for the individual and also for society. Joanne Rand Whitmore (1985) concluded that there are two reasons to identify gifted underachievers: the first one is that society needs the contributions that a gifted person can contribute and the second one is due to the significant mental health and social problems that may become present in a gifted underachiever. Society will need high achieving gifted students to make advancements for society. The gifted student will need to stay an achieving student so that they do not become a problem to the classroom or to him/her. Gifted underachievers can often be labeled the troublemakers in the classroom so it is imperative that the gifted student remains a high achiever.
Video Reference:
Christian, K. (2012, November 9). Solving the riddle of underachievement: Kenneth Christian at TEDxSacremento. Video retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf0BuZs9v8o
Video Reference:
Christian, K. (2012, November 9). Solving the riddle of underachievement: Kenneth Christian at TEDxSacremento. Video retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf0BuZs9v8o