by Dr. Manoj Chandra Handa | Sep 22, 2014 | Gifted Students
“The pursuit of excellence is not a skill, it is an attitude.” – Manoj Chandra Handa Perfectionism has often been misunderstood as a good quality to possess. It is not. What is good is the pursuit of excellence which is something quite different. Delisle and Galbraith (2002) make a clear distinction between the two concepts. Perfectionism means that you can never “fail”, you always need approval, and if you come in second, you are a loser! The pursuit of excellence means taking risks, trying new things, growing, changing – and sometimes not succeeding. Jim Delisle and Judy Galbraith in their book, “When gifted kids don’t have all the answers”, point out that perfectionism can take a heavy toll on a student’s self-esteem, relationships, creativity, health, and capacity to enjoy life. As perfectionism is not possible, and yet that is what some students want—and that they won’t be satisfied with anything less—it is a recipe for disappointment. Delisle and Galbraith (2002) affirm that gifted people of all ages are especially prone to perfectionism. This may be rooted in the awareness of producing the best quality and nothing else. Once they see how something “ought to be done” (ought to sound, ought to look), they may naturally want to do it that way. And they may overwhelm themselves (and others) in the process. This is why gifted students need support to persist despite their constant awareness of “failure”. Many of problems students have with high expectations are reinforced by the environment, particularly if they have had a string of early successes. Ruth Duskin Fieldman, a former “Quiz Kid” (in Delisle & Galbraith, 2002, p....
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