To produce or not to produce? Understanding boredom and the honor in underachievement

Abstract

This study explores factors contributing to the boredom of gifted high school students who had gradually disengaged from classroom learning. Evidence from three case studies provides a rich sense of the complexities of this process. The core findings: (1) learning is the opposite of boredom, and (2) learning is the antidote to boredom. Five interdependent features emerged from the interviews that distinguished boring from learning experiences: control, choice, challenge, complexity and caring teachers. The extent to which these five C's were present determined the extent of students’ engagement and productivity. Participants attributed their increasing boredom to a gradual decline in the five C's in middle and high school. They reported a growing sense of moral indignation toward the activities they were offered as an “education.” They felt the honorable action in response to an inappropriate curriculum was to disengage from it and quit producing. It is recommended that interventions designed to re‐engage bored high potential students begin with a clear understanding of each student's boredom and then offer each a differentiated curricula rich in the five C's.