There are four social/emotional themes I'll be focusing on this year:
- Overexcitabilities
- Resilience
- Perfectionism
- Passion
Here is some starter information on each of them below, but please watch the blog throughout the year for more post, which I will tag with the appropriate subject.
Overexcitabilities
Kazimierz Dąbrowski was a Polish psychologist, psychiatrist, and physician who developed the Theory of Positive Disintegration after years of studying gifted children and adults. A key aspect of his theory was the existence of "overexcitablities" in gifted human beings.- Gifted advocate Stephanie S. Tolan gives an excellent layperson's explanation of overexcitabilities.
- Personally, I love how Dabrowski himself describes them in his poem, Be Greeted Psychoneurotics!
- Finally, Hoagie's Gifted Education page has a truly overwhelming (but very rich!) collection of links on Dabrowski and overexcitabilities in general.
Resilience and Perfectionism
Perfectionism is the number one concern I get from parents from a social/emotional point of view. Resilience (or a lack of) is a top concern I have as a teacher from a social/emotional point of view. Fortunately, both can be addressed at once through the work and research of psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.. Her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success contrasts two basic attitudes/outlooks on life that greatly determine our success and growth: I can't possibly describe it better than Dweck herself in the following video.
This best thing you can do is read the book yourself and begin to examine how well your own parenting is supporting a growth mindset!
Passion and Creativity
I can't emphasize enough the importance of real passion in a child's life, and finding ways to use that passion to fuel real, authentic learning. Sir Ken Robinson is part of a new "revolution" in rethinking education in order to put passion at the center of it. His book, The Element, helped change my thinking significantly. Here he sums up the principal succinctly:
But don't leave before watching what is now considered Robinson's "classic" 2006 TEDTalk on creativity and the school system.
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