Teaching the child to study

My daughter, age 11, is in the Gifted and Talented (GT) program for our county.  Most of the things she is learning are easy for her and as such she has a hard time taking any of it too seriously.  She has even asked why she should try to excel when a modicum of effort will produce acceptable results.  This seems like a symptom of public education as expressed in a couple of books by Seth Godin I just finished. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us  Briefly, one of the theses of these gems is that public school is a construction of the "factory" society that was created after the industrial revolution and more specifically with Henry Ford's perfection of the assembly line.  The students created by this system should mostly conform and easily insert themselves into that ideal.  It was enlightening to me the hear that my daughter was expressing views that seemed to be examples of the "public school as training ground for factory" thesis.

Now to combat this heinous attitude that she seems to have developed I have read a couple of books by Cal Newport about study habits and how you can study less to better effect. How to Become a Straight-A Student:   and How to Win at College: Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country's Top Students.  My wife has been reading How to Be a High School Superstar: A Revolutionary Plan to Get into College by Standing Out (Without Burning Out) and I will pick it up once she finishes it.  We've been trying to teach some of these methods to my daughter.  One other resource that I will point out is Mr. Newport's blog, Study Hacks (http://calnewport.com/blog/).  I just sent a link to the latest post to her.

Anyone have any tips to share for getting a good student to want to be better?

(see below for a complete list of all books mentioned in this blog)