Introducion
The cognitive complexity, increased reaction intensity, emotional sensitivity, imagination, unique interests, personalities, and conflicts that differentiate gifted children from their classmates may result in distinct educational and emotional demands. When faced with such complexity, gifted children may display inappropriate social behaviors, hostility, violence, low self-esteem, insecurity, frustration, rage, and feelings of inadequacy. These characteristics might put the child at risk for socioemotional instability if they are not acknowledged and addressed. To lower the vulnerabilities of gifted children and raise awareness of their distinct style of operating in the world, it is crucial to have a better grasp of their cognitive, emotional, affective, and social worlds.
Traits of Gifted Learners
Gifted students have outstanding potential in any of the following categories: cognitive, academic, management, and arts. Acknowledging giftedness involves better understanding the society in which gifted children live, with respect to those elements that society priorities and identifies with.
Rapid Comprehension
Students that are gifted typically have an increased capacity for learning and quickly processing information. Because of this, profoundly gifted children frequently operate at a different pace than their neurotypical peers (Tibken et al., 2021). Jerry, a student in one of my lessons, showed an early interest in biology during the first week of class. He selected an insect-themed school book as his independent reading selection and eagerly discussed its contents with his peers. Jerry’s degree of knowledge was immediately apparent after being interrogated; he was well-versed, particularly in butterflies, understanding their anatomy, species, and survival conditions.
Tendency Toward Complexity
Students that are gifted typically have a desire to comprehend the wider picture of what they are studying. They can have several inquiries regarding a particular subject or prefer to study whole-to-part rather than part-to-whole (Miedijensky, 2018). Stacy, who was always quiet yet worked hard in one of my classes, demonstrated this quality to me. As the instructor, I brought a sweet potato sprout into the class to illustrate the concept of a plant’s nourishment source. She was really interested in drawing, so when she saw the sweet potato sprout, she requested if she could use motion photography to capture the plant’s growth. Together with another student, Stacy discovered a new passion. They made a chart, found a means to standardize the images, and examined at the plant’s growth. The two students selected the measuring equipment and managed the sample time variable.
High Expectations
Many gifted children hold great standards of themselves and of others. Gifted students sometimes have high expectations for themselves and others, which can occasionally manifest as perfectionism or a very clear sense of justice (Ogurlu, 2020). In one incident, Samantha, a gifted pupil in my class, showed this quality unmistakably. I assigned the pupils a class project that involved designing and constructing a bridge out of things like candies, skewers, and paper. Samantha took the helm of this assignment by drawing a blueprint for the bridge and delegating work to his classmates based on their respective skills. She urged her classmates to explore new ideas and push the bounds of their creativity after setting a high goal for herself to see the complete the project. She was not contented with simply reaching the project’s criteria; she desired to exceed them.
Divergent Interests
Students that are gifted stand out from their peers due to special qualities they possess. Gifted children tend to be more adventurous, curious, open-minded, and original than their neurotypical counterparts (Abdulla Alabbasi et al., 2021). I challenged the students to design and construct a model city as part of a class assignment to evaluate their creativity, problem-solving abilities, and collaboration. One student, Max, was originally uninterested in the assignment since it was not in line with his interests; he thought it was too restrictive and did not allow for creative expression. As a result, he found it difficult to relate to his friends, who preferred to build cities around sports arenas and computer games. He then adopted a new strategy and started doing research on cities all around the world for inspiration, including forms of music, art, and history into his creation. He began to produce wholly original work as a result. His project inspired his students, who were so inspired that they started to view the project in a different way. His classmates added their own interests to the project, which produced a more varied and intriguing end product.
Socio-Emotional Issues
Children who are intellectually gifted are frequently more vulnerable to emotional issues that can cause social and academic challenges. Interpersonal issues are misdiagnosed when there is a lack of understanding by parents, educators, and health professionals paired with the problematic settings. Numerous studies show that gifted children struggle with social and emotional problems in the classroom that have an impact on their psychological health and emotional stability (Abdul Aziz et al., 2021). Most talented children experience dissatisfaction because of their distinctive personalities, which manifests itself in emotions that indicate boredom and activities that impede their socioemotional development.
Gifted students have special social and emotional characteristics that drive them to conceal their issues or internal struggles. They also struggle when asking for help or support from others to solve problems (Abdul Aziz et al., 2021); this is because they are more likely to face difficulties on their own, which makes it harder for them to be understood. Despite their talents, gifted children also struggle with internal conflicts and pressures that impede their ability to develop socially and emotionally. Therefore, in to be able to support brilliant children, teachers and parents must be aware of how they deal with conflict.
Addressing Socio-Emotional Learning in the Classroom
A viable strategy to advance essential social and emotional skills for all children is the implementation of social emotional learning (SEL) programs in educational settings. Since SEL programs should focus on developing five primary domains—self awareness, self-management, social awareness, interpersonal skills, and abilities in making responsible decisions—the socio-emotional skills are cognitive, affective, and behavioral in character. I will integrate the emotional literacy curriculum, which supports students’ emotional control, empathy, and responsible decision-making, in the classroom to foster social emotional learning. To promote SEL, I will utilize three blocks. The first is a basic emotions block, which will educate students to identify and name six fundamental emotions, notice them within themselves and others, and learn to control their emotions and, as a result, their behaviors. Second, feeling activities focused on pupils learning the family of feelings, distinguishing between feelings and emotions, recognizing feelings, and developing emotional management methods. Finally, the major goals of the thought block are to understand the variety of thoughts, to detect thoughts and separate the good from the negative, and to acquire emotional regulation tools.
Conclusion
To help gifted children reach their full potential, the social and emotional components of their giftedness must be recognized and encouraged; thriving in one area necessitates functioning in others. Each gifted child has a distinct set of personality traits and areas of giftedness that can appear in both positive and negative ways. The challenge for instructors is to assist students in expressing good manifestations of gifted qualities while also managing negative manifestations. Furthermore, helpful peers should affect not only the youngster’s worldview but also the abilities the child develops to properly navigate the world.
References
Abdul Aziz, A. R., Ab Razak, N. H., Perdani Sawai, R., Kasmani, M. F., Amat, M. I., & Shafie, A. a. H. (2021). Exploration of challenges among gifted and talented children. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 6(4), 242–251. Web.
Abdulla Alabbasi, A. M., Hafsyan, A. S. M., Runco, M. A., & AlSaleh, A. (2021). Problem finding, divergent thinking, and evaluative thinking among gifted and nongifted students. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 44(4), 398–413. Web.
Cristóvão, A. M., Candeias, A. A., & Verdasca, J. L. (2020). Development of socio-emotional and creative skills in primary education: Teachers’ perceptions about the Gulbenkian XXI school learning communities project. Frontiers in Education, 4. Web.
Miedijensky, S. (2018). Learning environment for the gifted—What do outstanding teachers of the gifted think?Gifted Education International, 34(3), 222–244. Web.
Ogurlu, U. (2020). Are gifted students perfectionistic? A meta-analysis. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 43(3), 227–251. Web.
Renati, R., Bonfiglio, N. S., Dilda, M., Mascia, M. L., & Penna, M. P. (2022). Gifted children through the eyes of their parents: Talents, social-emotional challenges, and educational strategies from preschool through middle school. Children, 10(1), 42. Web.
Tibken, C., Richter, T., Linden, N., Schmiedeler, S., & Schneider, W. (2021). The role of metacognitive competences in the development of school achievement among gifted adolescents. Child Development, 93(1), 117–133. Web.