Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis explores the experiences of school for gifted and talented adolescents in New Zealand. The foci of inquiry are a) what it is like to be gifted and talented in a New Zealand schooling context, and b) the understandings of a group of students, their parents and teachers, about the achievement and underachievement of gifted learners. The research relates specifically to a group of 11 gifted and talented students, their experiences and ideas about what it means to be gifted and talented and to achieve as gifted and talented learners. Adopting a qualitative, phenomenological methodology, the voices of the students were prioritised in the research process and thesis writing. Semi-structured interviews are the main source of data. Multiple interviews were conducted with the adolescent participants over a period of 18 months, within their first two years of secondary schooling, and with their parents and teachers. Written reflections by the students provide supplementary data. The thesis explores and problematises understandings of achievement and underachievement that are presented in literature and were held by the research participants. The implications of these understandings on the decisions that gifted adolescents make, about what constitutes achievement and whether and how they seek to achieve in school, are highlighted. The essences of the lived schooling experiences for the gifted and talented adolescents in this study are drawn together and summarised in three main themes. The first theme relates to culture and context and how this influenced the students’ understandings about what it meant to be gifted and talented within the particular socio-cultural milieu of a New Zealand school. The participants showed an understanding of the preferred New Zealand values of modesty and the downplaying of any perceived advantages. The second theme relates to the concept of ‘potential’ as an enigma and a nebulous term that is assumed to mean different and particular things for gifted and talented learners. It is argued that it is not theoretically sound to structure definitions of underachievement for gifted learners around the idea of ‘not reaching your potential.’ The third theme relates to the negotiation of adolescent identities. Being gifted and talented added to the complexities around identity development for the students who participated in the study, as they worked to find their fit within the socio-cultural context of a New Zealand school. Four different identity profiles are developed to provide an illustration of the variation and complexity of gifted and talented students’ identity negotiations. There is little research literature that centres on the lived experiences of gifted students within New Zealand society. This study seeks to address this gap. The research and theorising from this thesis will add to the growing research base in New Zealand on educating gifted and talented learners. Readers of the thesis, who may include a range of education professionals, are invited to draw implications from the study about the experiences and achievement of gifted adolescents and relate the findings to their knowledge and understanding of gifted and talented learners, within their own work situations and cultural contexts.

<p>U savremenoj pedago&scaron;koj literaturi, razlike u obrazovnom postignuću učenika se, veoma<br />retko, proučavaju iz perspektive učenika &scaron;to je, verovatno, jedan od bitnih razloga za<br />kontinuiranu egzistenciju kategorije &bdquo;neuspe&scaron;an učenik&rdquo;. Cilj na&scaron;eg istraživanja bio je da<br />se problem &scaron;kolskog neuspeha razmotri iz perspektive učenika koji su pozicionirani kao<br />neuspe&scaron;ni. Umesto mnogobrojnih pretpostavki istraživača o tome za&scaron;to su neki učenici<br />neuspe&scaron;ni, u istraživanju smo po&scaron;lli od pretpostavke da su učenici ti koji imaju teorije o<br />sopstevnom obrazovnom postignuću koje proveravaju i preispituju, koje mogu, ali i ne<br />moraju da budu u skladu sa teorijama koje o njihovom obrazovnom postignuću imaju<br />&bdquo;značajni drugi&rdquo;. U istraživanju su primenjene kvantitativne i kvalitativne tehnike<br />procene konstruisanja. Konkretnije, primenjena je metodolo&scaron;ka aparatura koja se koristi u<br />teoriji ličnih konstrukata: polustrukturisani intervju, Mreža repertoara, Mreža implikacija,<br />Mreža otpornosti prema promeni i samokarakterizacija. Uzorak je činilo 60 učenika<br />trećeg razreda srednje &scaron;kole koji su u toku &scaron;kolske godine ili na kraju kvalifikacionih<br />perioda imali negativne ocene iz tri i vi&scaron;e predmeta. Na osnovu analize rezultata moguće<br />je zaključiti da se način na koji učenici defini&scaron;u &bdquo;&scaron;kolski neuspeh&rdquo; razlikuje od definicija<br />u udžbenicima pedagogije i pedago&scaron;ke psihologije. Nalazi pokazuju da je učenicima<br />najvažnije da &bdquo;drugi&rdquo; shvate da oni nisu imanentno glupi i stoga neuspe&scaron;ni u &scaron;koli. Kao<br />najče&scaron;će razloge &scaron;kolskog neuspeha učenici navode: odsustvo volje i koncentracije za<br />učenje, lenjost i neadekvatnu didaktičko-metodičku obučenost nastavnika. Nalaz koji<br />zaslužuje posebnu pažnju jeste da učenici jako dobro znaju kakvi nipo&scaron;to ne bi želeli da<br />budu, &scaron;to ukazuje na nagla&scaron;eno veću prediktivnu jasnoću onog &scaron;to predstavlja nepoželjnu<br />stranu njihovog identiteta, i &scaron;to je za nijansu jasnije od idealizovane i željene predstave o<br />onome &scaron;to bi oni želeli da budu. Učenici nipo&scaron;to ne bi želeli da budu &ndash; neuspe&scaron;ni đaci,<br />kampanjci, bezvoljni, lenji, neodgovorni, odbačeni, nepravedni, nesigurni, nedosledni,<br />nesposobni, nesamostalni u učenju, neobrazovani, naivni i neposlu&scaron;ni. &Scaron;tavi&scaron;e, oni bi<br />želeli da budu uspe&scaron;ni đaci, ali da ne moraju da uče.</p> / <p>In contemporary pedagogical literature, the differences in student academic achievement are very<br />rarely studied from student&rsquo;s perspective, which is, probably, one of significant reasons for the<br />continuous existence of the category &bdquo;underachiever&rdquo;. The goal of our research was to consider<br />the problem of school underachievement from the perspective of students who are positioned as<br />underachievers. Instead of numerous assumptions of researchers regarding the issue why certain<br />students are underachievers, the starting point for our research was the fact that students are those<br />who have theories about their own academic achievement, which they test and reconsider, and<br />which can, but do not have to be in keeping with the theories about their academic achievement<br />held by &bdquo;significant others&rdquo;. The research applies quantitative and qualitative methods for the<br />assessment of constructing. More specifically, we applied the methodological apparatus used in<br />personal construct theory: semi-structured interview, Repertory Grid, Implication grid, Resistance<br />to change grid and self-characterisation. The sample comprised 60 secondary school students<br />from the third grade, who failed three or more subjects during the school year or at the end of<br />classification periods. Based on the analysis of results, it is possible to reach the conclusion that<br />the way in which students define &bdquo;school underachievement&rdquo; is different from the definitions<br />provided in pedagogy and educational psychology textbooks. The findings indicate that the most<br />important thing to students is for &bdquo;others&rdquo; to realise that they are not immanently stupid and<br />therefore fail in school. As the most frequent reasons for school underachievement they state the<br />following: the lack of will and concentration for studying, laziness and inadequate didactic and<br />methodical training of teachers. The finding that is especially worthy of attention is that students<br />are well aware of what they do not want to be like under any circumstances, which points out to a<br />prominently higher predictive clearness of what presents the undesirable side of their identity and<br />which is one nuance clearer than the idealised and desired concept about what they would like to<br />be. Students would never want to be &ndash; underachievers, those who study unsystematically,<br />apathetic, lazy, irresponsible, rejected, unjust, insecure, inconsistent, incapable, dependent in<br />studying, uneducated, gullible and disobedient. Furthermore, they would like to be successful<br />students, but without having to study.</p>

There is a well-established ‘achievement gap’ in medical education, with ‘ethnic minority’ students achieving less well in examinations than their white counterparts. The processes underlying this difference are currently unknown. Most research to date has taken a student-deficit approach, suggesting that lower performing students lack the cognitive or cultural capacity of their higher achieving peers. These models have so far failed to explain the variation in achievement by ethnicity. In order to address this gap in the literature and further our understanding of ethnic minority students’ underachievement, this thesis takes a sociocultural approach to the problem. It addresses two research questions: firstly, how does ethnicity impact on medical school achievement? Secondly, how do social networks affect achievement? This research uses qualitative interviews (n=33 medical students), quantitative survey methods and social network analysis (n=160 medical students) to explore ethnicity and the achievement gap within medical education. Sociocultural theories of learning, specifically concepts from communities of practice and Pierre Bourdieu are employed in the design and analysis phases. This thesis demonstrates that medical students’ achievement is best conceptualised as part of a wider learning trajectory toward becoming a doctor. Relationships are important channels through which the resources and support can flow, these in turn facilitate learning and achievement. Lower achieving students are less well connected to their PBL peers and have fewer tutors or clinicians in their network. The medical world has a tightly prescribed, yet often hidden, set of legitimate dispositions; students must learn to embody these norms, values and behaviours in order to succeed. This process relies on experiences of participation, facilitated by relationships with peers and seniors. Socialisation is clearly mediated by culture. Ethnic minority students, due to their differing cultural practices and identities, have fewer experiences of participation, often experience the medical domain as outsiders and find it harder to interact with tutors and clinicians. This is reflected in their social networks as some minority students have fewer seniors in their network. These factors interact to cut ethnic minority students off from potential and actual resources that facilitate learning and achievement. If the situation is to be improved, medical schools must do more to acknowledge the extra difficulties many ‘ethnic minority’ students face in becoming an insider. Processes of identification and participation must be supported as these students negotiate the extra distance and tensions between their home world and those of medical education and medicine.