Reformed schools seek to assist parents to fulfil the vows taken at the baptismal font. The school aims to equip covenant children with academic knowledge, skills, and attitudes that can be used in service of God and to their neighbour. It is intended that the students gain scripturally moral character so they acknowledge, accept, and use their God-given talents.

Who are the recipients of Reformed education? First and foremost, they are God’s adopted children. As heirs of the Father, they have received the forgiveness of sins through the blood of the Son and the cleansing and renewal of life through the work of the Holy Spirit. They, like we, were conceived and born in sin and are, therefore, inclined to all manner of evil. By nature they are unable to show forth the image of God in which man was created. Our children are, however, unique because of what God has given them: inclusion in the covenant. As such they have been called to deny themselves and to live for God and the neighbour.

All covenant children share in a common status before God. Each is called to serve and glorify Him. Within this common task, however, each has been given a unique set of gifts, talents, and opportunities by the Lord. The Reformed school must, therefore, recognize the diversity of abilities and gifts of its students and seek to address them in its instruction, curriculum content, and assessment.

Most of the efforts put forth by Reformed schools aim to assist parents in raising their children in the fear of the Lord, to love and serve Him, to recognize his supremacy over all aspects of life, and to learn to do good to others. These aims find their basis in the covenant established by God with his people and reflect the demands found on the two tablets of the law. The school works out its broad aim in various ways: most visibly, perhaps, but not exclusively, in its academic activities. Notable, however, is the fact that writers in both the Reformed and the broader Christian communities never give the pursuit of academic excellence as the primary goal of the Reformed Christian schools. Such striving is always subservient to and encompassed by the larger aim of learning to serve our Maker fully and of learning “that belonging to our faithful Saviour means that we belong to each other as well.”¹

Is it because of this that, within our schools, there is a small percentage of the student population whose needs are not being fully addressed; i.e., those of the bright and gifted learners? As awareness of special services in other school systems has increased over the past number of years, parents have become more interested in meeting the needs of these students. In the school evaluation that was done at Covenant Christian School in Flamborough, Ontario several years ago, this was one of the areas that was identified as needing attention. The report indicated that gifted and bright students required expanded opportunities in order to be challenged fully and in accordance with their talents and abilities.

Who are the bright and gifted and what makes them a needy group of learners? For decades researchers, educators, and parent groups have tried to define giftedness. To date, a universally acceptable definition remains elusive. Even the term “giftedness” has come under scrutiny for it is considered by many to be too narrow. In 2000, Alberta Learning, a provincial resource for teachers, described giftedness as broad in terms of academic ability, talent, social, interpersonal skills, and vocational domains. The document notes that giftedness is intimately linked to opportunity and that programming for students who are gifted is essential in their development. Similarly, the Ministry of Education in Ontario defines giftedness as “an unusually advanced degree of general intellectual ability that requires differentiated learning experiences of a depth and breadth beyond those normally provided in the regular school program to satisfy the level of educational potential indicated.”

Students who display giftedness appear to have characteristics and abilities that stand out. The following list is a compilation of those most commonly accepted by educators and parents:

• wide range of abilities, academic and otherwise

• well-developed attention span, a deep curiosity, and an ability to grasp, retain, synthesize, and act upon information

• ability to work independently and to take responsibility

• capacity to adjust easily to new situations and demands

• superior vocabulary and reading ability

• well-developed capacity for abstract, complex, logical, and insightful conceptualizations

• motivated, goal-oriented, and enjoys learning

• self-aware and reflective

• creative and imaginative

• risk-taker

• ability to generalize information across settings and to see unusual diverse relationships

• highly developed sense of consequence and forward planning

• advanced sense of moral/ethical judgment

• thought processes accelerated²

All of this sounds pretty good. Where are the needs of such students? Have they not been gifted with extraordinary abilities? The characteristics noted above look only at the positive side of giftedness. Students who fall into this category of learners may find themselves possessing attributes that can be considered negative in a learning environment as well. These include:

• bored and inattentive, particularly when the subject area is not of interest to them

• highly sensitive, especially to criticism

• extreme perfectionism

• difficulty changing tasks

• stubbornly prefer certain ways of learning, inflexible

• overly self-critical and will strive for unrealistic perfection

• unwilling to listen to the perspective of others

• insist on dominating discussion³           

Suddenly it’s not such a bright picture. Imagine a child who, during his preschool years, has learned to read fluently sitting in a Grade 1 classroom “learning” how to identify common outlaw words (e.g., the, one, does, etc.). Or picture a student who has developed the skill of adding numbers in the thousands in her head. Such a child sits in a grade-level mathematics class “learning” how to add 1 + 3. In science class, the gifted child may discover with delight and enthusiasm that the next unit of study relates to his area of expertise. Eagerly he begins to share his knowledge. Facts fall out of him at top speed. He uses vocabulary terms that few of his classmates understand. Oblivious to the fact that his peers are rolling their eyes and snickering behind their hands, he continues until the teacher politely tells him that it’s enough for one day. History class and it’s time to debate. The teams have been made and the positions assigned. The gifted child has her team’s case all worked out. She’s even anticipated all possible counter arguments and is ready with rebuttals. But her group wants nothing to do with her ideas because she spoke too quickly, came on too strongly, and refused to compromise. Besides which, they didn’t follow half of what she said because she drew in arguments from sources other than those read in class.

Are such children likely to be excited about learning? Are they going to be eager for the next day’s lessons to come? Will they continue to participate with enthusiasm and gusto? Some will. They will make learning interesting in their own way. They will persist and achieve, expecting bigger and better things from themselves. They will amaze their teachers by producing work that far exceeds their expectations. They will carry on with zeal and achieve great things. “They” are usually the girls. They may not even be truly gifted, just hard-working overachievers.

What of those who don’t embrace classroom activity because of the fact that it’s too easy and boring? Some will tune out and escape to a world of their own making. Others will bury themselves in books of their choosing. Yet others will become disruptive and make a nuisance of themselves. Discouraged and let down, they lose interest in school and care little about what goes on therein. They become underachievers who produce work that does not reflect their true abilities. Parents and teachers become frustrated and wonder why they have chosen the easy way out. “They” are usually boys.

Do we, as Reformed school communities, accept this as inevitable for the gifted and talented amongst us? Historically speaking, we have grown from one room schools, wherein the needs of individual learners could not be addressed, to schools that have teachers whose main task is to teach those whose needs make it difficult for them to function in the regular classroom. It is good and right that those who struggle to develop basic literacy skills receive such teachers’ primary attention. Scripture teaches us that we are to be patient and gentle with the weak. This does not, however, excuse us from tending to the needs of the gifted in our midst. Like those at the other end of the learning curve, they also require direction and encouragement. Should we not make it our aim to equip them for the unique challenges they face today so they are not too discouraged, disheartened, and/or disengaged to become tomorrow’s leaders?