Current research indicates that some gifted
students possess better self-regulated learning strategies than their
peers, however gifted students may have done very well in school without
using good self-regulation strategies because of a combination of
their high abilities and/or an unchallenging curriculum. If learning
is relatively easy for someone, less effort, organization and other
self-regulated activities are expended. Social conditions or personal
issues may prevent students from developing self-regulated learning
strategies. For some students who already have some of these strategies,
social or personal issues may prevent them from using them regularly,
and thus, they need to be helped and encouraged to do so. Some gifted
and talented students display perfectionism and need to learn to strive
for excellence (their personal best) rather than perfection. Some
talented students with high potential may find it difficult to learn
self-regulation when it is not taught, modeled, or rewarded by the
adults in their home and family. Even if students interact regularly
with adults who demonstrate self-regulation, they may fail to use
these skills themselves due to peer pressure or refuse to use the
strategies their parents or teachers regularly employ at home or school.
Compared with low achieving students, high
achievers set more specific learning goals, use a variety of learning
strategies, self-monitor more often, and adapt their efforts more
systematically. The quality and quantity of self-regulation processes
is crucial. We must recognize that one self-regulation strategy
will not work for all students, and that the use of only a few strategies
will not work optimally for a person on all tasks or occasions.
It is important that students learn to use multiple self-regulatory
learning skills rather than single strategies. They must also learn
that their goals and their choice of self-regulation strategies
have to be continually adjusted.