In the last decades, there has been a consistent increase in the interest towards the issue of gifted and talented (GATE) underachievers. The current shifts in the nature of the global economy and the rapid technological advancements have led to major transformations in the type and availability of jobs in advanced countries.
With 75% of the fastest growing occupations requiring skills and knowledge in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), forecasts claiming that 40% of current occupations will be lost to automation in the next 20 years and the realization that Western countries are lagging behind their Asian peers in subjects critical to innovation (White, 2018), many European countries have been invested by a competitive anxiety.
The increasing pressure of globalization, economic competitiveness and the unsatisfactory results of students’ performance have led to increased focus on the academic achievement of gifted and talented students, who have the potential to become the innovators and leaders of the future.
Giftedness and talent are defined as “performance that is clearly at the upper end of the distribution in a specific talent domain even relative to other high-functioning individuals in that domain” (Subotnik et al., 2012). However, even when students are recognized to be capable of providing similar performances, they often fall short and fail to express their full potential. These cases are referred to as “gifted underachievement”. Several researchers have been investigating the causes of this phenomenon, with most of them identifying such causes in the following 3 domains: (i) motivation, (ii) emotion, (iii) school perception.
To help these students achieve their full potential, new teaching strategies are required.
Project period: 01.01.2022 – 31.12.2023
Erasmus+ program: KA220 – Cooperation partnerships in school education
Target groups: Primary education teachers, mentors, gifted and talented pupils
Stakeholders: Public authorities, education experts, researchers, school staff.