The importance of stimulation in school for the well-being of gifted students

Abstract

Session: Fysisk aktivitet

Students who learn quickly and who have a complex way of thinking and analyzing do not always receive the support they need at school in Sweden (Skolinspektionen, 2022). At the same time, international research shows that prolonged lack of stimulation can lead to challenges such as those with neuropsychiatric disorders (Amend & Beljan, 2009) and can lead to school difficulties, such as problematic school absence (Gross, 2009).
The purpose of this ongoing research is to find out whether well-being differs between the students identified by the school as gifted and the rest of the student population. There are such indications internationally (Casino-García et al., 2021), but no research has yet been done in Sweden to be able to establish that this is indeed the case.
The study is part of a larger research project and based on a social constructivist theory with a salutogenic perspective. It has a quantitative approach, and the data collection includes Swedish municipalities that have initiatives aimed at potentially gifted students in grades 4–8. In Sweden, there is no general aptitude testing of students, so to be able to identify the right target group, an estimation tool developed, not a guarantee of giftedness but to give an indication, will be used (Nissen, 2019).

Through surveys based on previously published survey tools the results will illustrate whether there is any difference between the well-being of gifted students compared to the wider population. This provides an empirical basis to subsequently explore the effects of school- based interventions, such as acceleration, enrichment, and mentoring, and in turn see whether mental health improves if students are offered such support.

References

Amend, E. R., & Beljan, P. (2009). The antecedents of misdiagnosis: When normal behaviors of gifted children are misinterpreted as pathological. Gifted Education International, 25(2), 131–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/026142940902500204

Casino-García AM, Llopis-Bueno MJ, Gómez-Vivo MG, Juan-Grau A, Shuali-Trachtenberg T and Llinares-Insa LI (2021) “Developing Capabilities”. Inclusive Extracurricular Enrichment Programs to Improve the Well-Being of Gifted Adolescents. Front. Psychol. 12:731591. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.731591

Gross, M. U. M. (2009). Highly gifted children and adolescents. In J. A. Plucker & C. M. Callahan (Eds.), Critical issues and practices in gifted education: What the research says (pp. 241–251). Prufrock Press Inc.

Nissen, P. (2019). Detecting talent from the perspectives of students, parents, and teachers. US-China Education Review B, 9(4), 119-127. https://doi.org/10.17265/2161- 6248/2019.04.001

Skolinspektionen (2022). Stimulerande undervisning för elever som ligger långt fram i sin kunskapsutveckling. https://www.skolinspektionen.se/beslut-rapporter- statistik/publikationer/kvalitetsgranskning/2022/stimulerande-undervisning