Understanding a Lack of Motivation to Excel

Giftedness has often been equated with being academically talented or being a high achiever in in school. Now there is growing concern about those gifted students who could be described as unmotivated and underachieving in one or many academic areas. Parents and teachers who have observed the exceptional potential of these youngsters become intensely frustrated in efforts to increase the students' achievement, motivation and self-discipline. The purposes of this article are to help parents and teachers in understanding the nature and causes of underachievement, and to show them how to work more effectively with underachieving gifted students. The information and guidelines provided will be helpfulin preventing as well as reversing student patterns of attitude and behavior.