Contextes de scolarisation, expérience scolaire et représentations de soi chez des collégiens à haut potentiel.
Courtinat, A. (2008)

Notre recherche se propose d’appréhender, dans le contexte scolaire français, les effets du mode de scolarisation d’élèves à haut potentiel intellectuel en classes homogènes (versus classes hétérogènes) sur leur expérience scolaire et leurs représentations de soi et du haut potentiel. Un protocole de recherche a été mis en place auprès d'un échantillon de 255 collégien(ne)s à haut potentiel intellectuel (48 filles - 207 garçons), âgés de 9 à 15 ans (M = 12,5 ; ET = 1,51), scolarisés dans des classes hétérogènes (classes où ils sont scolarisés avec des élèves tout - venant ; n=51) ou dans des classes homogènes (n=204). Six instruments de conception et de visées différenciées ont été utilisés : un questionnaire relatif à l’expérience scolaire, le bilan de savoir (Charlot, Bautier & Rochex, 1992), la technique Genèse des Perceptions de Soi (L’Ecuyer, 1990), l’Échelle Toulousaine d’Estime de Soi (Sordes-Ader, Lévêque, Oubrayrie & Safont-Mottay, 1998), une grille d’hétéro-évaluation des compétences et des conduites scolaires et une question ouverte sur les représentations du haut potentiel. Nos résultats révèlent que les E.H.P.I. scolarisés en classe homo gène présentent des niveaux d’estime de soi scolaire et sociale plus faibles que leurs homologues scolarisés en classe hétérogène. Par contre, les effets sur l’expérience scolaire sont plus contrastés. Ils permettent également de souligner l’hétérogénéité des formes du rapport au savoir et à l’apprendre de ces adolescents. Les stratégies de représentation de soi apparaissent fortement modulées par l’âge et les contextes familiaux. Enfin, les représentations du haut potentiel s’organisent a utour de la question de la différence soit relativisée soit revendiquée.

Mots-clés : collégien(ne)s - haut potentiel intellectuel – expérience scolaire – mode de scolarisation– rapport au savoir - représentations de soi et du haut potentiel

Abstract : The situation of pupils with a high intellectual potential (or gifted pupils) has been stirring great interest for the past few years, which goes hand in hand with a great deal of controversy. In France, though the issue has been making headlines, it has not yet been much researched in scientific circles. Even if they have been tested as enjoying an above average IQ (≥130), some pupils are being challenged to adapt academically and on the psychological and social levels. One of the theories that has currently been singled out to account for that “phenomenon” stresses that the socio-pedagogical context is not suitable either for these children’s cognitive and socio-emotional features or for their specific approaches to learning. Among the various pedagogical solutions that have been suggested, it has been recommended to place these pupils in classes characterized by their homogeneity (since gifted pupils are put together in the same form).

Our research objective is to try and understand, in the French schooling context, to what extent teaching gifted pupils within homogeneous classes (versus heterogeneous ones) does impact their school experience and their own representations as regards their own self and high potential.
A research protocol was implemented on a sample of 255 gifted pupils at junior high-school level (48 girls and 207 boys), ranging from 9 to 15 years of age (A (average) = 12.5; SD (standard deviation) = 1.51), being taught either in heterogeneous forms (i.e. classes where they sit among a haphazard group of pupils; n=51) or in homogeneous ones (n=204).
Six instruments have been devised, whose design and objectives are very different: a questionnaire regarding their school experience; an assessment of their knowledge (Charlot, Bautier & Rochex, 1992); the technique dubbed Genesis of Self Perceptions (L’Ecuyer, 1990); The Toulouse Scale of Self-Esteem (Sordes-Ader, Lévêque, Oubrayrie & Safont-Mottay, 1998); an hetero-assessment grid as to their academic skills and their behavior at school and an open-ended question about the representations of high potential.
According to our results, it turns out that gifted students taught within homogeneous forms evince lower levels of self-esteem on the social and academic planes, compared with their counterparts taught in heterogeneous classes. On the contrary, the consequences on their school experiences are more contrasted. Results also make it possible to underline the heterogeneity of these teenagers’ relationship with learning and knowledge. Their strategies regarding their self-representation prove to be very much influenced by age and family background. Lastly, the representations they have concerning their high potential hinge around the issue of their difference, which they either minimize or pride themselves on.

Keywords: junior high-school pupils – giftedness– school experience – way of schooling – relation to knowledge - representations of oneself and of giftedness