We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
WHAT ARE THE challenges facing young, exceptionally-talented children in Ireland?
That is one of the questions that will be asked at the Centre for Talented Youth Ireland’s annual conference in DCU today. The conference will address teachers and parents on how to maximise gifted children’s potential – as the system doesn’t quite encourage that approach.
Among the issues that will be discussed at the conference are cyberbullying, and how gifted children are more reluctant to report it; talented children’s underachievement in our schools, and how to provide support for gifted children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Cyberbullying
One of the most puzzling findings of research into exceptionally gifted children is that although they are just as likely to be the victims of cyberbullying, they are also less likely to report incidences of it.
This is mainly because they were afraid that their claims would be exaggerated by their parents or teachers, and because they feared that their privileges, such as internet access, would be taken away from them.
Colm O’Reilly, the Director of the Centre for Talented Youth Ireland (CTYI) said:
Another big challenge that needs to be addressed is that children really struggle to pinpoint exactly what is social interaction online, and what is bullying. We need to help them understand the difference.
Underachieving
Colm O’Reilly also says that the education system has to change. He says that the system is geared towards ensuring everyone reaches a basic minimum – instead of getting everyone to reach their maximum potential.
“Teachers must ensure that the child is challenged.”
If we were talking about ensuring that children with learning difficulties were getting the best education they possibly could – this wouldn’t even be questioned.
“But because we’re talking about bright kids it seems to be not as accepted and people seem more reluctant to push them ahead.”
There are approximately 40,000 children who are classed as being ‘exceptionally-gifted’ or reaching the top 5% of the most intelligent young people.
Money and programmes
Children from disadvantaged are particularly challenged in their attempt to reach their full potential.
Eamonn Caroll is currently researching how best to support gifted children from disadvantaged backgrounds with a pilot programme LEAP. It will offer extra supports to 26 chidlren in their education between 4th class and 6th year, in an effort to show them the advantages of learning, and ensure they know of the opportunities open to them.
This includes courses over the summer, and hosted once a month during the school year, such as a mathematical skills course, a correspondence course in August, a game-based learning course, and a personality test to see what language suits you best.
They also run a Primary School Programme in conjunction with DCU Access. This involved running extra courses on DCU’s campus for 38 primary schools in the Coolock/Finglas area.
We have classes such as Horrid Histories to show the kids how much fun learning can be. It also introduces them to the university atmosphere which they may not have experienced before – and it does very well.
There are newly-launched programmes in Dublin Cork and Limerick, where the CTYI work with teachers and universities to identify gifted children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and to suggest that they are enrolled in further activities to help open up opportunities for them.
Around 300 primary school children and 100 adolescents are selected by teachers on the basis of interest, potential and other guidelines set out by the CTYI.
The biggest understatement, according to Caroll who will be speaking at the conference today, is that financial support isn’t the only support needed by children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Often, they need additional emotional support and guidance to pursue further education options.
The conference, which will be held in the Nursing Building on DCU’s campus today, aims to raise awareness that gifted youths need their own personalised approach to ensure they get the best education possible.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Schools fail the gifted children . My son sat the CTYI assessment at 6 yrs of age and was classed as gifted, something I already knew at that point, his teacher that year was great and set him challenges when he finished his work ahead of others without drawing attention to it but each new school year brought its own problems, you see he was basically left to get on with things himself , he wasn’t encouraged like the children with special needs or remedial help . He was forgotten about in the classroom, he never received the little awards children get for improving or achieving, the little A4 sized piece of paper that said Well done ! He had special needs of his own , he needed help to stay focused in class because he was bored ! He got no recognition for his ability, it was practically taboo yet if he had scored the winning goal or swam the fastest his picture would have been in the school newsletter or on the awards display wall , being gifted in an academic way was not rewarding in mainstream school for the 6 yr old child attending College and studying Science and Zoology, going to DCU until he was 14 kept him focused. CTYI is fantastic and should receive so much more in grants from the Government, these talented children need nurturing just like every other child . They are the future of this country
I recall never getting a well done at school, I always did great work, exceeding expectations. Only the ones struggling and doing their best get those. I always hated that until I had a child with a severe speech and language disorder and realised why he needed them so much. Yes I would have liked to have been recognised, to get the attention but there were some who needed it more, I was always going to do great, with or without an award.
And I wasn’t even gifted, I was normal. Like many other forgotten children who just do their stuff and don’t get the envied a4 pieces paper. So don’t take it to heart.
Lily I didn’t take it to heart about the paper awards for doing well but it wasn’t easy watching his little face waiting patiently to see if he was going to get anything but knowing he wouldn’t. It didn’t have any lasting affects on him and I totally understand the resources used for encouragement too , I’m simply saying they should all get helped and nurtured , their all special in their own unique ways so sometimes it’s just nice to give them a little boost
What morons are red thumbing these comments?
That is sad Michelle. Originally when legislation was being brought in to draw up support for special ed in schools, it was intended to have resources for very bright children. That was however quietly dropped
I was a gifted child, school was so boring I hated every minute of it. No challenges at all, imagine having to sit through your times tables while doodling in calculus and getting into trouble for not paying attention. The problem with this system is that if you are gifted as a child and your parents are relatively uneducated, you never learn how to study, you never learn how to work as the material in front of you is just so easy. In my experience of third level, the students who had to slog for every point in 2nd level do the best in 3rd level (generalisation). This is because you hit material that needs work no matter how smart you are, the sloggers have all their methods in place, the gifted have to develop these methods very suddenly. On the other hand, if you have parents that went to uni, they have the ability to present challenges themselves. I was lucky in that I had a teacher in 3rd class of primary school that recognised the issue early on and got me into 2nd level maths and physics. Most gifted kids from disadvantaged backgrounds just fall through the cracks.
Haha, this is so true! I remember the first time I had to REALLY study, it went horribly wrong! So, I started three days before a particular second year exam in college (which was so dumb in itself, it was a particularly tough biochemistry module) and just went hell for leather on it. After day 2 I was like “Literally have not done nearly enough on this…. need help”, went to the pharmacy, got caffeine tablets (never had them before and didn’t really drink coffee) and eventually got to the exam… by the time I was in the exam I was loopy. I read the questions and the words didn’t make sense so I panicked (all in my head) and thought I was having a seizure and then sort of, thought I was falling off the seat in the exam hall. Eventually I collected myself (after a half hour in a 2 hour exam) and actually did pass (mid 50′s, meh) and slept for 15 hours. In summary, yes, you’re right, I had no idea how to study for something tricky and ended up trying a stupid ass shortcut which almost backfired, terribly.
@Titus Groan: 3rd level biology has an incredibly large volume of material to be read. I am in no way deriding your ability by saying this, but you must have got lucky with the questions to be fair. The amount of different essay topics that could come up, and the sheer level of detail make the odds of passing with 3 days of study akin to winning the lottery. Having said that, extremely well done on passing the exam, you know what I am talking about. Biochemistry and physiology in 2nd year, what a slog, one word always pops into my head, ‘cascades’, what a nightmare!
I didn’t get that lucky, to be fair. My finals took 3 weeks of study for me to graduate top 5 in my year and have now finished a PhD. Also, the questions in the final exams were often repeated from the year before, tricky blighters that TCD are.
@Titus Groan: I am just referring to that one exam, I have a particular reason for saying it too. We were badly stung in our 2nd year biology exams, none of the regular topics came up, so if you hadn’t studied the entire modules in depth you were unlikely to pass. There was a high failure rate as students focused on what were ‘given’ essay topics, in that module in particular there is always and either/or in at least one essay choice. We were the first year neither came up according to the archived papers.
Biochemistry is a total bitch… that is agreed, dude… Were you TCD? Cause that story sounds familiar…
@Titus Groan: No, was in Maynooth, I began with the intention of getting a level 9 or 10 in biochemistry, but 2nd year biology really put me off that notion. Ended up with a first in maths phys, now im back working in construction lol.
Second year was the worst in science, I agree. In TCD you had like, 12, 2 hour exams almost back to back and sometimes 2 in one day. It was the worst… I remember having to choose to study between petrology and Microbiology because they were on the same day and passed by the skin of my nose. I’ve made some shocking decisions when it’s come to studying…
@Titus Groan: Yep, in my opinion, a lot could be done to reduce failure rates in the sciences, perhaps a module in study skills specifically geared towards chosen subjects. Even the a simple web page on picking complementary subjects when applying for 3rd level courses. There are some modules that are quite difficult to find comprehensible material on that is of a required level. Regarding biology, there is no middle ground online, it is either over-simplified, leaving cert standard, or complex, post grad papers that take experience to read. We had a nasty physics module in 2nd year, statistical thermal physics, impossible to find online help as everything there is from the chemistry perspective, had a 62% failure rate in the exam.
@Titus Groan: Yep, in my opinion, a lot could be done to reduce failure rates in the sciences, perhaps a module in study skills specifically geared towards chosen subjects. Even the a simple web page on picking complementary subjects when applying for 3rd level courses. There are some modules that are quite difficult to find comprehensible material on that is of a required level. Regarding biology, there is no middle ground online, it is either over-simplified, leaving cert standard, or complex, post grad papers that take experience to read. We had a nasty physics module in 2nd year, statistical thermal physics, impossible to find online help as everything there is from the chemistry perspective, had a 62% failure rate in the exam.
We hear politicians drone on about our ” brightest and best ” all the time , yet the DES allocate no resources whatsoever for exceptionally able children. CTY do great work but can only do so much on their shoestring budget.
Interesting this article gets only 2 comments. Says it all really.
Our school system (and I am not bashing teachers here) is a joke. It strives for everyone to be average and there is a bias towards kids who can’t learn. It’s just as tough at the other end of the spectrum.
My kids are not genii but are bright and the system does nothing for them.
Everyone is ignoring any global rating on schools and universities. The fact is our standards are dropping and this will be an issue in 10-20 years when we can’t get fdi into this country as our young people won’t be educated enough. This is already happening with some high tech companies looking outside for grads. Eventfully they will move to where the talent is (after all that is one of the reasons why they came to Ireland in the first place) And without these we cannot keep the services and trades going.
Gifted children/adults are frequently lacking social skills and this can often exacerbate their idolation. In Russia classes were created of only gifted children, likely schooled for the benefit of the state, but the experiment failed because the children suffered from even more sever consequences socially probably proving the point that one needs a balance between intellectual and social skills even if one has to be halted for the sake of the other to ensure the well being of the person.
Yes, gifted children are let down in school, but don’t think for a second special needs kids are not let down all the time too. Just check out any article on special needs or special needs education on the Journal. Generally people who are not the parents or family of special needs individuals care more about what’s happening with Kanye and Kim. It’s the same with gifted kids. There is no need to hold up special needs kids as an example of a group getting so much help in school. Besides special needs kids can be gifted too. It’s not either/or. It’s not a competition. The article would have been a lot more palatable without the opener.
We are all gifted. This divide and conquer is not good for children.
I just want it known too that gifted children are singled out for “reasons”
I had a social worker in Meath ask the court for an order for ELECTRIC SHOCK THERAPY to normalise my son.
Parents- do not fall for the gifted child label- thinking its great to have your child on the register…much darker reasons behind the scenes.
Everyone thinks they’re an underachiever. I’d argue there’s no such thing – people achieve what they achieve, and that’s their real potential.
I was a gifted child.
I remember understanding everything before everybody else, even the teacher. I did my leaving Cert at 4 yrs old and was fluent in 6 languages by 5 yrs old.
It was really tough standing out as so bloody clever.
have your say