Parallel Session Proceedings »
3.7.8 Social-Emotional Skills Supporting Gifted Development: Keys to Unlocking Potential
There is continuous interest in high-ability students who do not reach potential. The ability is present, but there is something keeping the student from reaching supposed levels of achievement. We want to see those with identified ability produce within their strengths. In many cases, this missing ingredient is social-emotional skills and understanding. Students may not understand the critical impact of emotions on cognitions. The emotions that come with taking risks, stepping out of your comfort zone, and making mistakes are often accompanied by uncomfortable feelings of fear and anxiety. Developing emotional awareness is foundational in teaching students to develop tenacity, resilience, and tackle challenges. The notion of cultivating of social-emotional skills to support optimal achievement has become an increasingly important focus in the field of gifted education (Niehart, 2016; Subotnik, 2015; Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, & Worrell, 2011). Such non-cognitive skills are essential for the optimal development or achievement of many varieties of gifted students- students from low-income backgrounds, underachievers, and even the elite performer already competing with the greatest in the field. Ultimately, the development of social-emotional skills help gifted students understand the connections between ability, emotion, and behavior and can propel them to their next level of talent development. Using Bar-On’s framework for emotional intelligence, the strategies we will share deliberately teach students the connections between emotions, cognitions, and behaviors; students can learn that emotions influence how they achieve their goals. Participants will see examples of field-tested, practical lesson ideas that can be used to explicitly teach psychosocial skills to support gifted students’ continued growth in emotional intelligence. Lesson ideas include guiding students to take intellectual risks, using mental contrasting with implementation intentions to stick to goals (Oettingen, 2016), applying principles of deliberate practice, developing self-awareness of how emotions can paralyze or catalyze pursuits towards high achievement, using problem-solving to cope with setbacks, reflecting and appropriately responding to criticism, and developing assertive communication skills to advocate for creative ideas. These are often the skills that gifted students need to support the development of their high-level ideas and abilities. Participants will also learn how extensions to advanced content curriculum can be used to reinforce social-emotional skill development.