The ‘former gifted kid’ discourse is so sad to me. Schools cater to the lowest performers, kids on grade level get told they are just “really smart” instead of an education. Now those kids are adults and feel shame that ‘they used to be smart’ instead of realizing that the the school let them down.
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I swear like 40% of people talk about how they used to be really smart and are referencing an experience in elementary school.
But it usually ends up being letting one side of the scale empty to fill the other because there are not enough resources
There's no interest into making the quality, quantity or time for the classes better
Less professors, bigger groups of students
Less adaptability and more standarized methods
I like your vision of what it should be, though. Imagine the progress we'd make if we nurtured every individual's talents, and made learning a joyous experience for them?
(I'm also angry at the people who invented "whole language" reading.)
For those interested in numbers and such https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics
Then, maybe 6-8 months ago, YouTube started feeding me a bunch of ADHD-related content and it's been so distressingly relatable.
Combined I got an A.
The next semester I attempted both, got a B in Linear Algebra and an Incomplete to F for Diff Eq.
I was told that I was smart by pretty much every adult in my life since the age of 4, well before school.
There was a really big difference between me and the other kids in the amount of effort they needed to put into school.
It definitely contributed to me being very miserable in school.
Which will bite them hard in college, when, at some point, they no longer can skate by on smarts alone.
Yet others confess it made them lazy and unfocused, which are habits they find really hard to break out of later in life.
Didn't need to study before uni, then I had to work my way to above average.
Time comes when curiosity, imagination, and drive carry you much further in life than “smart “ or “talent.” You want to help a child? Talk to them, find out their interests and set them on that path.
High performing kids are being supported almost to the exclusion of raising up kids who need more assistance.
And no, there really is no answer I can see other than smaller classes and more teachers.