Hello everyone!! It's Friday, and unlike most of the teenager population that are out partying, i'm sitting here with a cup of tea writing a blog post. Just the way I like it :)
Well this is literally going to be a rant about the school scheme of 'Gifted and Talented', which is when the best and clever-ist students get picked to do this amazing opportunity that puts them one step ahead of the rest of us. I absolutely hate this scheme because whats the point in it? It makes every other student feel not good enough and I felt like that for the majority of year 7, 8 and 9. But now I have just learnt to resent it. Surely, the less academically able students (who try) should be getting the opportunities to encourage further study? I understand that most people don't want to try in school and that's why they aren't as clever, but people who obviously want to do well but find it hard should be rewarded for there efforts in a way that will help them in other areas. I understand some people think "well you can't not reward the smart students because they'll stop trying" Yeah of course they should find a way to reward them, but I don't agree with giving them opportunities that they could already get without the 'gifted and talented' scheme. Opportunities like college trips or something should be offered to those who would maybe not find it so easy to get noticed for opportunities like this normally.
I understand that this may come across as jealously etc but honestly it's not, in fact I recently got chosen for Gifted and Talented in Spanish (I don't even know how), but I immediately decided not to go on it because I hate everything about the fact they single you out.
All my school cares about is the smart ones who will reflect highly of the school, the others they couldn't give a crap about.
Well, I just needed to say that because it annoys me so much! At least it's the weekend and I'm seeing The Midnight Beast and Bastille tomorrow so I'm a happy girl :-)
Have a good weekend!!
~Thanks for reading~
"Gifted and talented" might not even be the right expression, it might as well someone who studies the hardest ;P.
ReplyDeleteThe best way to reward someone I have seen has been giving a nomination / prize to the person who has improved the most in a certain time.
x, Lara
http://laralizard.blogspot.fi/
Yeah, That's what I was trying to get at! Thanks for commenting :) x
DeleteIm not too sure about a "Gited and Talented" program that rewards you for simply being gited or talented, but I do believe the point of every advanced program like that is to simply give students who happen to already know the material or who glean information rapidly to continue doing so. That being said, Iit's nice that your school seems to split it up by subject, because in a lotof schools I've been to, they assume that if you're exceptionally good at puzzles, the next logical step is that you're destined to be a rocke scientist who speaks a myriad of languages and knows more things than an encyclopaedia. My main issue with these programs is that they don't always take time to figure out what a student is good at, and assume they must be good at everything under the sun. Now, I think that once kids get put into advanced programs or whatever, they are expected to put in the same effort as "normal" kids. The thing we don't always realize when we're younger is that some of these kids are under some kind of pressure to do really well, maybe because their parents make them, or they are exceptionally motivated, or they feel like they have something to prove. These are the kids who also study the hardest at times, and so while it may seem like they're being treated especially well for no reason other than their brain, we have no way of knowing how much studying happens when no one is there. I'm guessing that not every kid in "Gifted and Talented" programs is well off (as well as normal kids), so unless we know everything about their personal lives, it isn't fair to say they would have gotten a lot of these opportunities anyway. EVERYONE should get to go on college trips.
ReplyDeleteIt's totally unfair if the school only cares about certain kids, though. And while the school is a business, it has an obligation to provide each student with the support s/he needs in all subjects, not just congratulating them for being good at certain things (though that is useful in building morale).
-Khadijat
Woah, Thank you for that! Yes, I totally agree that they are probably working exceptional hard but at the same time, so are people who aren't rewarded and that's what bugs me. Thanks for commenting :) x
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