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3.3.8 To “reach your potential” – should that really be the question? Re-thinking ideas around underachievement.
Policy documents at both a national level in Aotearoa New Zealand and at the school level frequently include aims around the idea of ‘reaching potential’ when referring to achievement for gifted learners. Notions of potential were the focus of a recent doctoral study which explored the experiences of school for 11 gifted and talented adolescents in New Zealand. Findings from the study showed that the participants saw ‘potential’ as a nebulous, inexact concept. This presentation will argue that it is not theoretically sound to structure definitions of underachievement for gifted learners around the idea of ‘not reaching your potential.'