Living With Live Wires

Creative performance is often viewed as a solitary occupation. In reality, people often work in groups and should be encouraged in gifted children.

Collaboration can spur creativity. Teachers can encourage children to learn by example by collaborating with creative people.  (Sternberg)

Creative collaboration can help social skills when activities are guided so that everyone’ contribution is valued. As a class activity, it can increase trust for the introverted students to feel more comfortable sharing their ideas with other and with extroverted students to see it is acceptable and preferred for them to be themselves and not just conform to peer expectations.

An essential aspect of working with other people and getting the most out of collaborative creative activity is to imagine oneself in other people’s shoes. Individuals can broaden their perspectives by learning to see the world from different points of view. -

Sternberg states, teachers and parents should encourage their children to see the importance of understanding, respecting, and responding to other people’s points of view. This is important, as many bright and potentially creative children never achieve success because they do not develop practical intelligence. They may do well in school and on tests, but they may never learn how to get along with others or to see things and themselves as others see them.

Gaining practice in developing this perspective can help introverts come out of their shell. It can help them see that other people are not so different and do experience similar feelings. It can reduce their feelings of isolation and help them develop trust with peers and the teacher.

Introversion

Although some gifted children are extroverts, more often they are introverted when compared with typical children. When you combine introversion with the frequent lack of fit between gifted children and their age peers ( in terms of interests, skills, knowledge, sensitivity, and intensity), it is not surprising that gifted children, particularly those who are highly gifted, find that they have little in common with their age peers.

Introverts are not likely to approach new children; they are more likely to wait for others to initiate friendships. They need time to observe a situation before joining in and don’t feel the need for as many friends as extroverts do.  (Webb)

Peer Relationships

Every child – gifted or not – wants to feel connected with others. We learn from others how they think or do things, we compare our perceptions of the world with theirs, and we develop a sense of whether we are valued.

Peer relationships are issues for almost every gifted child. Because their interests and behaviors are often unusual and different from age peers, they may find few peers of their own age in their school or neighborhood. Gifted children with unusually high intellectual abilities, intensities, and sensitivities can have even more difficulties finding friends among children their age.  (Webb)

Challenging Values and Traditions

Webb states that gifted children, with their quick minds, logic, and ability to see more than one way to do things, can get into trouble for challenging tradition.

Telling a teacher that she is mistaken breaks tradition; customarily, adults are supposed to know more than children. But since incorrect information bothers gifted children to the core of their being and creates major discomfort, they feel that they must comment to reduce their stress about the situation.

Gifted children’s perfectionism, exacting nature, literal interpretation of events, and concern for truth and justice – especially in those who are auditory-sequential learners – motivate their strong reactions. Older children may be able to handle these situations more diplomatically by talking with the teacher after class rather than challenging her during class, but their reaction is still intense. Their moral sense and need for truth and justice are so strong that they must be addressed in the moment. (Webb)

We strive to find balance in our lives, and our gifted children must do the same. On the one hand, we want them to be creative, because that is where innovation and progress come from. On the other hand, there are times when we want them to respect tradition.

Another important aspect regarding the motivation of gifted children is to help them understand the path of Mastery. Mastery is usually a term used in reference to mastering a task or a standard. It is usually seen as the completion of a task. You have mastered it, so it is now time to go on.

The path of mastery involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher in most cases than that which preceded it.

A reflection on mastery gives a deeper awareness of the learning process, a longer-term view. We all need to develop areas of  life where we want mastery.

In our story, the teacher knew she had standards that needed to be met. There were limitations of time and several competing needs in the classroom.

But now she also understands that mastery is a path, it is a decision to commit to a practice, such as being a creative teacher in limiting circumstances. It is a practice with intrinsic motivations, you want to practice and you will keep trying even when it seems you are not making any progress, because you understand the experience of the plateau on the path of mastery.

Committing to a path of mastery in your personal life makes it easier to integrate these concepts into the classroom. It becomes part of you and the way that you talk to the children and teach the class. When you develop a longer-term perspective on the learning process it is easier to have more patience with the students who feel frustrated.

And you begin to see new ways to infuse what you already do with more wisdom.

Help Children Find What They Love to Do. 

Teachers must help gifted children find what excites them to unleash their best creative performances. In the investment metaphor, one needs to find an area in which to invest about which one feels some excitement, so that one will do what one can to maximize the value of one’s investments.

Helping children find what they really love to do is often hard and frustrating work. Yet, sharing the frustration with them now is better than leaving them to face it alone later.  To help children uncover their true interests, teachers can ask them to demonstrate a special talent or ability for the class, and explain that it doesn’t matter what they do (within reason), only that they love the activity.  (Sternberg)

Help Children Build Self-Efficacy.

Many people eventually reach a point where they feel as if no one believes in them. Because creative work often doesn’t get a warm reception, it is extremely important that creative people believe in the value of what they are doing. This is not to say that individuals should believe that every idea they have is a good idea. Rather, individuals need to believe that, ultimately, they have the ability to make a difference.

The main limitation on what children can do is what they think they can do. All children have the capacity to be creators and to experience the joy associated with making something new, but first they must be given a strong base for creativity. (Sternberg)

Sometimes teachers and parents unintentionally limit what children can do by sending messages that express or imply limits on children’s potential accomplishments. Instead, adults need to help children believe in their own ability to be creative.

Robert Sternberg has found that the best predictor of success among children is not their ability, but their belief in their ability so succeed.

Note – this is not empty praise or unrealistic expectations of potentials.

Carol Dweck , who wrote Mindset: The new Psychology of Success, a very good resource to read to learn better ways to encourage gifted children. She discusses a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. She encourages adults to use praise cautiously and correctly.