Gifted and talented adolescents' experiences of school in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

The thesis that this chapter summarises explored the experiences of school for one group of gifted and talented adolescents in Aotearoa New Zealand and in particular, the understandings that the students, their parents and their teachers had about the achievement and underachievement of gifted learners. The study was underpinned by a phenomenological methodology that prioritised the perceptions and beliefs of the gifted and talented adolescent participants. The findings were drawn together in three main themes. The first theme related to the way culture and context influenced the students' understandings of what it meant to be gifted and talented within the particular sociocultural milieu of a New Zealand school. The second problematised the concept of 'potential' as an enigma and a nebulous term when linked to the underachievement of gifted and talented learners. The third theme related to the complexities around identity development for gifted and talented students as they worked to find a 'fit' for themselves in the context of a New Zealand school.