A lack of knowledge from a teacher which cost a child dearly. In a school in Nice, a five-year-old boy with high intellectual potential (HPI) was kicked out by his teacher. The cause: the use of a word she didn’t know.
The anecdote is reported by Mariette Bousquet, educational director of a school in Nice specializing in the reception of intellectually precocious children, to the Figaro Student. The professional spoke about the fact that HPI children were not always well received in the traditional school system.
“Well yes, they are nyctalopes”
The little boy HPI’s teacher was talking to her class about cats and explaining that they were animals that see very well at night. It was at this moment that the child intervened, saying “well yes, they are nyctalopes”. “The teacher had the feeling of being insulted,” reports the educational director.
As a reminder, a nyctalope is not a misogynistic insult but a being capable of seeing in the dark or at night. Let’s hope that the teacher has learned her lesson (and that the little boy will dare to continue participating).
