A CROSS – CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL FACTORS AFFECTING GIFTED LEARNERS : YEAR 9 – YEAR 12

Dynamic classrooms emerge from the fact that modern day classes have mosaic of
learners, each with their own-harnessed synergies. The definition of gifted and
talented learners has undergone significant changes over the decades. Gifted and
talented learners are those who manage to camouflage the emotional and social
needs they have with their high ability with curriculum subjects. The classroom
culture and dynamics does play a significant role as these learners experience a
variety of spells of aloofness. Also, sometimes classroom interactions may not give
these learners an opportunity to build on their cognition, but may stagnate their
existing knowledge leading to boredom in classrooms. Strategies that these learners
may need to entail to thrive in these dynamic classrooms have been discussed in this
paper. The role of the teacher, parents and school is diagrammatically represented to
showcase their importance as social agents in the lives of these learners. This
research has a cross-cultural flavor as it was pieced together at Australian Catholic
University, Melbourne. My reflections from my work experience from India and
variety of literature used has also helped me shape this research to contemplate on
the social and emotional issues faced by these learners as a global teacher. The
importance of accelerated programs for these learners seems to be an obvious choice
to keep these learners engaged during school interaction. Hence, using an
accelerated program within a social circle would be the most beneficial for these
learners. Feedback from parents could not only serve as a good reflection base for

teachers and stakeholders but also be used as input to revise practices for these
learners in a school.