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Counselling
the Gifted and Talented
Defences In their
exceptionality and their sensitivity, the gifted
sometimes construct complex, inhibiting psychological defences against
expected hurt (Freud, 1937). A
common variety is to hide behind
academic, intellectual walls of their own making, implying that they
are too clever to have normal relationships with ordinary people. Alternatively,
when school lessons are too easy, they see themselves as
wasting time, and so never learn the routines of work discipline, which
can be difficult to pick up later resulting in poor university results.
Freeman
(2001) found in her in-depth study, that in their
exceptionality and sensitivity, the gifted sometimes constructed
extremely complex, inhibiting psychological barriers to relationships
with others. Boredom is a particular problem for
the gifted child with a curious
mind in a normal classroom, who may try anything to relieve this
unpleasant experience (Freeman, 1993). Boredom
is not apathy; it is a
real emotion, which comes from low spirits and from the anger of
frustration. It drains energy, and is demoralising and maladaptive to
the individual. It can
also become a habit, developed in early
childhood, so that an individual learns to expect it, and so interprets
too many experiences in that way. Functioning at an unnaturally low
level all the time can result in stress and anxiety. Gifted
children,
like any others, need the enjoyable stimulation of variety, as well as
the excitement that can come from playing with ideas, but when lessons
are too easy, they lose the satisfaction of tackling and resolving
problems. To compensate, they may deliberately provoke disturbance, either in their own minds or among others in the classroom - just to taste the spice of stimulation. Because
the gifted and talented learn more quickly and in greater
depth, the primary educational problem is access to appropriate
educational provision. It is
not only the content of what they receive
which is important, but the manner in which it is presented, which may
not be in accord with their style of learning or interests. Like
all
other children, the gifted need consistent challenge, and may spend too
much time ‘filling-in’ with exercises, because they have finished
before the rest of the class. Specialist education The
gifted may be given separate specialist education, such as at a music
school, which brings its own particular stresses of intense competition
and long hours of work. Or
they may be grade-skipped by a year or more, which often enhances the
normal emotional problems of growing up - others may forget the child’s
chronological age so that he or she evolves a self-image of being both
small and inadequate. These
problems are not so apparent for small children, but later, in
adolescence, the social expectations of classmates may not be in tune
with those of parents. Particularly
for boys, their apparently late physical development (and never being
picked for the sports team) encourages their image as ‘egg-heads’,
hopeless at everything that is not school learning. The
success of acceleration is very dependent on the context in which it is
done, e.g. the flexibility of the system, how many others in a school
are accelerated, the child’s level of maturation, and the emotional
support the child receives. In some schools it may be the only route, but unless a child is particularly mature it is not in general to be recommended. Counselling for the emotional welfare of gifted pupils includes – • Educationally, the particular needs of the gifted change as they grow up. These include the problems of acceleration and possible alternatives, such as enrichment or part-time withdrawal. Arranging out-of-school activities for highly able pupils from different schools in the area, such as weekend activities, competitions, or summer camps, where they can meet and relax with others like themselves. • Psychologically, helping youngsters to deal with boredom, expectations that may not be welcome, perfectionist tendencies and being true to themselves as gifted individuals. Giving them trust to share their feelings and ideas. • Arranging a system of mentoring. This means that a carefully selected adult with particular expertise takes a special interest in a highly able youngster. The child may, for example, work alongside a scientist in a laboratory doing original research. This often has additional positive emotional effects. • Coordinating facilities for enrichment in education, including extra courses, specialist advisors and events for gifted pupils. If the level is high, pupils can be self-selecting, avoiding the hazards of selection by test identification. • Working towards a school atmosphere in which attention and provision for the gifted and talented is a normal and natural aspect of differentiated education for all pupils. • Concern with vocational guidance - it cannot begin too early - and provision and encouragement for youngsters to pursue interests which might be different from traditional ones. •
Encouragement for the gifted to a healthy balance between their
activities in the curricular and extracurricular to help improve their
interpersonal skills. She
has been honoured with The Lifetime Achievement Award for 2007 from the
British Psychological Society. ~ ~ ~
Articles: high ability - gifted/talented Intensity / sensitivity resources : articles sites books Introversion /
shyness. ~ ~ ~
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