Cultivating the social–emotional imagination in gifted education: insights from educational neuroscience

Abstract

Evidence from education, psychology, and neuroscience suggests that investing in the development of the socialemotional imagination is essential to cultivating giftedness in adolescents. Nurturing these capacities may be especially effective for promoting giftedness in students who are likely to lose interest and ambition over time. Giftedness is frequently equated with high general intelligence as measured by IQ tests, but this narrow conceptualization does not adequately capture students' abilities to utilize their talents strategically to fully realize their future possible selves. The brain's default mode network is thought to play an important role in supporting imaginative thinking about the self and others across time. Because this network's functioning is temporarily attenuated when individuals engage in task-and action-oriented focus (mindsets thought to engage the brain's executive attention network), we suggest that consistently focusing students on tasks requiring immediate action could undermine long-term cultivation of giftedness. We argue that giftedness-especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-can be cultivated by encouraging adolescents' intellectual curiosity and supporting their ability to connect schoolwork to a larger purpose. Improving STEM and gifted education may depend upon a shift from knowledge transmission and regimented evaluation to creative exploration, intentional reflectiveness, and mindful switching between task focus and imagining.

Imagination Is the Seed of Creativity

“…Social-emotional imagination is the ability to conceive of multiple possible cognitive and affective perspectives and courses of actions and to skillfully reflect about each of these and their ties to one's own value and understanding of the world (Gotlieb, Hyde et al, 2016). It is composed of several specific imaginative skills, including perspective-taking, identity construction, constructive internal reflection (Immordino-Yang et al, 2012), and cultural awareness (Gotlieb, Hyde et al, 2016;Gotlieb, Jahner et al, 2016). Social-emotional imagination also involves or is related to meaning-making, narrative construction, pretend play, planning, self-regulation, and moral decision-making.…”

“…Flexible identity construction requires maintaining a sense of one's core self while also conceiving broadly of and skillfully moving between the many aspects of one's identity. It also involves developing and utilizing strategies to refine an aspect of one's identity or to become a hoped-for future self (Gotlieb, Hyde et al, 2016). Both the acts of conceiving of an array of identities that one currently possesses and envisioning possible identities one might possess in the future require imagination.…”

Neuropsychological and Socioemotional Aspects of Mentoring Gifted Adolescents

“…As evidências empíricas confirmam a importância do balanço entre a maneira tradicional de aprendizado e o apoio socioemocional criativo. As funções executivas são compostas, basicamente, pelas habilidades da memória de trabalho e do controle cognitivo, perante o estímulo da autorreflexão, criatividade, senso de futuro e autobiografia (GOTLIEB, et al, 2016). Tassel-Baska (2005, citado por SOUZA, et al, 2009 , sugere que alunos superdotados tenham um currículo diferenciado, baseado em experiências significativas:…”

“…Uma intervenção fundamentada na habilitação e engajamento no aprendizado de novas experiências poderá gradualmente estabelecer novos estágios de comportamento, afetividade e atenção (ARCHAMBAULT, et al, 2009). Sugerir encontros com grupos de interesses e perspectivas similares para que o adolescente perceba e reconheça a si mesmo em outros indivíduos representa fator de relevância para estabelecer confidência e autorreflexão, considerando a baixa percepção de suas capacidades (KALUGER; MARTIN, 1960;GOTLIEB, et al, 2016). O estímulo à compreensão situacional e seus aspectos socioemocionais contribuem para um melhor desempenho de seus talentos.…”

“…O estímulo à compreensão situacional e seus aspectos socioemocionais contribuem para um melhor desempenho de seus talentos. Conforme Gotlieb et al (2016), a habilidade de imaginar o futuro provoca o interesse e entusiasmo de melhorar suas competências e aumenta a sua autoestima.…”