Saturday, July 15, 2006
SENG Conference - Part 2
I've opened the discussion on the bulletin boards, and so far only one person has posted, although 74 people have looked at it. The whole thing has been brewing for me, steeping in the background, distracting me. Finally I decided I had to do something more. I phoned the office and got the President's phone number and left her a message. There is an opportunity to make a real difference that I simply can't ignore.
Anyway, to tell you a bit more about the conference - there was a vast amount of information-passing and data-sharing going on. I was surprised, because I assumed that the whole point of having the researcher right there in front of a room was to give interpretation of their findings. I wanted to know, OK, what might this mean, how can we apply that extrapolation in the real world, what else might we want to study about it? I wanted to debate, disagree, create, imagine, and dream with the expert and the other people in the room. Most people had a lot of slides and not much time for questions. We could all read the research, offline, in our own time. So just giving us the data again seems a bit pointless. But perhaps that's how they do it in academia.
However, some data I simply had a hard time swallowing. I'm a coach; my training has taught me that no-one gets to be wrong. This principle that I hold so strongly was tested to the max at this conference. I heard a very well-respected keynote speaker say that there was no greater incidence of social or emotional problems among the gifted teenagers she studied than in the general population. All I can say is that gifted teenagers are masters at telling adults the answers they know they want to hear, and hiding their true feelings to protect the ones they love. This is also because they have been misunderstood or "helped" inappropriately so many times in the past that they no longer trust that any adult really knows what they are talking about. Their logical conclusion is that they must deal with their pain alone. It's sad, it's scary, and it's one reason why I do what I do - to reinforce their self-concept and to give them more tools to keep searching for what they need.
Generally I felt that this minimization of emotional problems was inappropriate and unhelpful at a conference specifically dedicated to supporting the emotional needs of the gifted. I am confused about it and wonder why it happened. There were other sessions that were great, some that spoke to the reality of being gifted. However there were many that gave lists of things to do with gifted people to help them fit in better. I find the lists to be terribly dangerous. Gifted people are vibrantly unique and deserve to be treated that way. The reductionist approach is particularly damaging for people who are constantly in a process of growth and change. My guess is that it would not be tolerated for any other group of people, grouped racially, ethnically, or even those at the other end of the IQ scale.
The mos surprising thing is, why is this happening at all? Why aren't the researchers and dedicated workers in the gifted world creating new and better ways to look at this population that can encompass their wholeness and individuality? Those taking a phenomenological approach are a tiny minority, one I wholeheartedly respect. I assumed that all the people drawn to this area are themselves gifted, but perhaps I am wrong. For me, working with gifted people means I need to remain constantly alert, flexible, and open to modifying any and all of my operating principles at any moment. It's the thing that makes it fun and keeps me engaged. I don't want to reduce it to a set of understandable "facts", ever. Part of the beauty of gifted people is their ability to see the big picture - the enormous, infinite picture. Let's use that as a starting point and see where it gets us.
Stay tuned for part 3....
Technorati tags: SENG conference gifted phenomenology
Anyway, to tell you a bit more about the conference - there was a vast amount of information-passing and data-sharing going on. I was surprised, because I assumed that the whole point of having the researcher right there in front of a room was to give interpretation of their findings. I wanted to know, OK, what might this mean, how can we apply that extrapolation in the real world, what else might we want to study about it? I wanted to debate, disagree, create, imagine, and dream with the expert and the other people in the room. Most people had a lot of slides and not much time for questions. We could all read the research, offline, in our own time. So just giving us the data again seems a bit pointless. But perhaps that's how they do it in academia.
However, some data I simply had a hard time swallowing. I'm a coach; my training has taught me that no-one gets to be wrong. This principle that I hold so strongly was tested to the max at this conference. I heard a very well-respected keynote speaker say that there was no greater incidence of social or emotional problems among the gifted teenagers she studied than in the general population. All I can say is that gifted teenagers are masters at telling adults the answers they know they want to hear, and hiding their true feelings to protect the ones they love. This is also because they have been misunderstood or "helped" inappropriately so many times in the past that they no longer trust that any adult really knows what they are talking about. Their logical conclusion is that they must deal with their pain alone. It's sad, it's scary, and it's one reason why I do what I do - to reinforce their self-concept and to give them more tools to keep searching for what they need.
Generally I felt that this minimization of emotional problems was inappropriate and unhelpful at a conference specifically dedicated to supporting the emotional needs of the gifted. I am confused about it and wonder why it happened. There were other sessions that were great, some that spoke to the reality of being gifted. However there were many that gave lists of things to do with gifted people to help them fit in better. I find the lists to be terribly dangerous. Gifted people are vibrantly unique and deserve to be treated that way. The reductionist approach is particularly damaging for people who are constantly in a process of growth and change. My guess is that it would not be tolerated for any other group of people, grouped racially, ethnically, or even those at the other end of the IQ scale.
The mos surprising thing is, why is this happening at all? Why aren't the researchers and dedicated workers in the gifted world creating new and better ways to look at this population that can encompass their wholeness and individuality? Those taking a phenomenological approach are a tiny minority, one I wholeheartedly respect. I assumed that all the people drawn to this area are themselves gifted, but perhaps I am wrong. For me, working with gifted people means I need to remain constantly alert, flexible, and open to modifying any and all of my operating principles at any moment. It's the thing that makes it fun and keeps me engaged. I don't want to reduce it to a set of understandable "facts", ever. Part of the beauty of gifted people is their ability to see the big picture - the enormous, infinite picture. Let's use that as a starting point and see where it gets us.
Stay tuned for part 3....
Technorati tags: SENG conference gifted phenomenology
Comments:
<< Home
Hey Joanna...
What an intereting blog...
I studied gifted ed in grad school and think this work is really valuable:)...
I think what that researcher was saying, Joanna, is not necessarily that gifted kids/people don't have emotional issues, but rather that other kids/people have emotional issues, as well, and that gifted kids/people don't necessarily have emotional issues more, on the whole, than other people...
As a gifted kid, I spend/t an awful lot of time with other gifted kids and know exactly what you're referring to when you refer to the unique emotional issues that gifted kids have...I had a grad school professor who spent all kinds of time trying to diagnose me, actually, in a way that was both condescending and little annoying given that all he would need to do would to be ask me and talk about it in a unpressured way...but he just couldn't get over the idea that maybe he just didn't understand very well and maybe if he laid off and asked we could talk about it, together...as is often the case, I just ended up kind of resolving the underlying issues on my own without his help...but I'm very familiar, I think, with the kinds of issues you are referring to...Searching for Bobby Fisher is such a great portrayal on screen of many of those issues, and something that many adults need to learn, better, how to deal with...
I think what the researcher was saying that I would also agree with, though, Joanna, as a special ed teacher and as someone who also has a lot of non-gifted friends is that kids/people who are not as intellectual or talented also have emotional issues that are often very serious for them, as well...many of my kids (I teach middle school special ed, currently) don't want to be in school, aren't confident with school activities and academic learning, feel embarrassed to talk up in class for fear of looking stupid, don't trust adults who are constantly punishing them for mistakes they make that they just don't recognize as mistakes, yet, make mistakes in their personal lives and behaviorally that are often a function of lack of forethought as much as anything else, and, worst of all, they often go through all of these experiences not understanding the variables as well as someone who is more thoughtful and curious who might get a better handle on them...
A lot of my kids have a hard time handling aggression, in particular, in situations where they feel a lot of pressure to perform or to behave in ways that they're not sold on, yet...
I think the trick is that most kids/people deal with the emotional issues particular to the challenges they face in their lives...and that gifted kids are just no different, in that way...
though I totally agree that individuals and individual issues should be taken more seriously than some aggregate outlook on a population of kids/people...
Fascinating blog:):)...I haven't studied gifted issues and been involved in the gifted teaching and research community, formally, for quite some time, now...it's kind of exciting to get a taste of the world of conferences, again:):)...I presented my first professional paper (outside of undergrad) at a gifted conference:):)...so I have a lot of affection for the community:):)...
Hope things are well for you, Joanna:):)...
Ben
What an intereting blog...
I studied gifted ed in grad school and think this work is really valuable:)...
I think what that researcher was saying, Joanna, is not necessarily that gifted kids/people don't have emotional issues, but rather that other kids/people have emotional issues, as well, and that gifted kids/people don't necessarily have emotional issues more, on the whole, than other people...
As a gifted kid, I spend/t an awful lot of time with other gifted kids and know exactly what you're referring to when you refer to the unique emotional issues that gifted kids have...I had a grad school professor who spent all kinds of time trying to diagnose me, actually, in a way that was both condescending and little annoying given that all he would need to do would to be ask me and talk about it in a unpressured way...but he just couldn't get over the idea that maybe he just didn't understand very well and maybe if he laid off and asked we could talk about it, together...as is often the case, I just ended up kind of resolving the underlying issues on my own without his help...but I'm very familiar, I think, with the kinds of issues you are referring to...Searching for Bobby Fisher is such a great portrayal on screen of many of those issues, and something that many adults need to learn, better, how to deal with...
I think what the researcher was saying that I would also agree with, though, Joanna, as a special ed teacher and as someone who also has a lot of non-gifted friends is that kids/people who are not as intellectual or talented also have emotional issues that are often very serious for them, as well...many of my kids (I teach middle school special ed, currently) don't want to be in school, aren't confident with school activities and academic learning, feel embarrassed to talk up in class for fear of looking stupid, don't trust adults who are constantly punishing them for mistakes they make that they just don't recognize as mistakes, yet, make mistakes in their personal lives and behaviorally that are often a function of lack of forethought as much as anything else, and, worst of all, they often go through all of these experiences not understanding the variables as well as someone who is more thoughtful and curious who might get a better handle on them...
A lot of my kids have a hard time handling aggression, in particular, in situations where they feel a lot of pressure to perform or to behave in ways that they're not sold on, yet...
I think the trick is that most kids/people deal with the emotional issues particular to the challenges they face in their lives...and that gifted kids are just no different, in that way...
though I totally agree that individuals and individual issues should be taken more seriously than some aggregate outlook on a population of kids/people...
Fascinating blog:):)...I haven't studied gifted issues and been involved in the gifted teaching and research community, formally, for quite some time, now...it's kind of exciting to get a taste of the world of conferences, again:):)...I presented my first professional paper (outside of undergrad) at a gifted conference:):)...so I have a lot of affection for the community:):)...
Hope things are well for you, Joanna:):)...
Ben
Hello Joanna:
It is anonymous two here again.
You made a comment "I assumed that all the people drawn to this area are themselves gifted, but perhaps I am wrong."
I would like to suggest that there are a wide variety of giftedness amongst gifted indivduals. Some of the people drawn to the conference may be gifted intellectually but in terms of hypersensitivity or emapthy are less gifted if you know what I mean.
In terms of resources and funding for gifted research, the dollars just are not there. Remember society views gifted education as elitist, exclusive and not required "if they are so smart, they can figure it out themselves without all this special funding"
I am interested in reading more of your thoughts about the SENG conference. I fear you and I are in the minority.
Good luck
It is anonymous two here again.
You made a comment "I assumed that all the people drawn to this area are themselves gifted, but perhaps I am wrong."
I would like to suggest that there are a wide variety of giftedness amongst gifted indivduals. Some of the people drawn to the conference may be gifted intellectually but in terms of hypersensitivity or emapthy are less gifted if you know what I mean.
In terms of resources and funding for gifted research, the dollars just are not there. Remember society views gifted education as elitist, exclusive and not required "if they are so smart, they can figure it out themselves without all this special funding"
I am interested in reading more of your thoughts about the SENG conference. I fear you and I are in the minority.
Good luck
# posted by 
: 12:27 AM
: 12:27 AM
Hi Ben,
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
You said,
"...that gifted kids/people don't necessarily have emotional issues more, on the whole, than other people..."
This is exactly the point that I was disagreeing with as the speaker spoke her speech. My experience is the exact opposite. I take your point that gifted people certainly do not have a monopoly on emotional pain, and that everyone faces challenges in life based on their own unique personal profile. The problem I have is that I think that the speaker's point was based on the masks gifted people wear so as not to appear too strange, rather than the highly volatile reality.
Because of their intellectual equipment, gifted people simply perceive more, which increases all the emotional dynamics following exponentially. Also, their higher developmental potential is in a positive feedback loop with their sensory and emotive equipment - meaning that they will seek out sensual and emotional experiences when they are feeling a strong drive to growth. Both these factors, plus the need to suppress their true emotions, drive increased emotional issues in my opinion.
Anyway, the thing is that we will never really know whether it's more or less than everyone else, and who really cares anyway? The point about emotional problems is that they can impact quality of life and functioning in the world, and we've already lost too many to suicide. At that point, good care professionals, informed about giftedness, are essential. Saying that there's no big problem feels like a bit of a slap to all the people who made the journey to the conference to find out about Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted!
Hope you'll be back,
Joanna
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
You said,
"...that gifted kids/people don't necessarily have emotional issues more, on the whole, than other people..."
This is exactly the point that I was disagreeing with as the speaker spoke her speech. My experience is the exact opposite. I take your point that gifted people certainly do not have a monopoly on emotional pain, and that everyone faces challenges in life based on their own unique personal profile. The problem I have is that I think that the speaker's point was based on the masks gifted people wear so as not to appear too strange, rather than the highly volatile reality.
Because of their intellectual equipment, gifted people simply perceive more, which increases all the emotional dynamics following exponentially. Also, their higher developmental potential is in a positive feedback loop with their sensory and emotive equipment - meaning that they will seek out sensual and emotional experiences when they are feeling a strong drive to growth. Both these factors, plus the need to suppress their true emotions, drive increased emotional issues in my opinion.
Anyway, the thing is that we will never really know whether it's more or less than everyone else, and who really cares anyway? The point about emotional problems is that they can impact quality of life and functioning in the world, and we've already lost too many to suicide. At that point, good care professionals, informed about giftedness, are essential. Saying that there's no big problem feels like a bit of a slap to all the people who made the journey to the conference to find out about Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted!
Hope you'll be back,
Joanna
Hi Anonymous 2, glad to see you!
I agree that there is huge variance in the gifted population - in their sensitivity, emotionality, everything! I do think, though, that in order to be gifted people must possess some of that increased sensory perceptiveness - otherwise they wouldn't be able to grow their intellectual function above a certain ceiling based on their age and experience (a.k.a. volume of input data!) Maybe there were some people there who do not have that perceptivity and are simply more intellectually active. There is also a lot of "walling off" of the sensitivity, simply in order to survive, that starts for gifted people in early childhood and may persist throughout their lives - in my opinion, to their great detriment.
So I agree that not everyone was having the same issues as I - and I think that the conference organizers missed a golden opportunity to show how to deal with those who do experience it, in a multi-ability setting, such as many of the classrooms of the teachers who were present.
Best,
Joanna
I agree that there is huge variance in the gifted population - in their sensitivity, emotionality, everything! I do think, though, that in order to be gifted people must possess some of that increased sensory perceptiveness - otherwise they wouldn't be able to grow their intellectual function above a certain ceiling based on their age and experience (a.k.a. volume of input data!) Maybe there were some people there who do not have that perceptivity and are simply more intellectually active. There is also a lot of "walling off" of the sensitivity, simply in order to survive, that starts for gifted people in early childhood and may persist throughout their lives - in my opinion, to their great detriment.
So I agree that not everyone was having the same issues as I - and I think that the conference organizers missed a golden opportunity to show how to deal with those who do experience it, in a multi-ability setting, such as many of the classrooms of the teachers who were present.
Best,
Joanna
Joanna...
I think you're right that intelligent/sensitive kids and adults tend to take on a lot of sensory stimulation because of their propensity to be aware of the world and all of the stimulating events/qualities in that world...
I think the trick is that kids/people who are more sensitive/intelligent/aware tend to take on more in terms of sensory stimulation because they are often able to handle more information/stimulation...they may or may not have the ability to be more selective about that input or about how to have perspective on experiences so they don't upset them or overwhelm them as much...but those are skills that everyone has to learn, really...
I don't really know if gifted kids/adults tend to have more or less emotional awareness to put emotional reactions in perspective...you're right that there are a lot of folks who know a lot but don't seem to know how to handle the emotional stimulation, as well (we all struggle with this, but some people struggle with it more than others, obviously)...
Though my experience is that, on average, the most intelligent people I know are often the people with the most perspective...almost my definition, really, at some level, as those with the deepest intelligence develop it by expanding their worldview in ways that both puts upsetting issues in the world in perspective (e.g. this person cutting me off on the highway is not nearly as upsetting as Israel invading Lebanon) and to more realistically accept those things that are upsetting that either are persistent in a way that is upsetting or in a way that seems to not be changeable...
Joe Nye -- one of the more brilliant international policy thinkers I'm familiar with -- probably has more emotional perspective than your average bear because he's constantly working on issues like genocide, Middle East peace, nuclear proliferation and other really difficult and upsetting issues constantly...a lot of people would likely struggle with that much input and less perspective...but what makes the guy's work so good is the depth of perspective that he has to offer:)...
Have a great time in Dublin, Joanna:):)...
Ben
I think you're right that intelligent/sensitive kids and adults tend to take on a lot of sensory stimulation because of their propensity to be aware of the world and all of the stimulating events/qualities in that world...
I think the trick is that kids/people who are more sensitive/intelligent/aware tend to take on more in terms of sensory stimulation because they are often able to handle more information/stimulation...they may or may not have the ability to be more selective about that input or about how to have perspective on experiences so they don't upset them or overwhelm them as much...but those are skills that everyone has to learn, really...
I don't really know if gifted kids/adults tend to have more or less emotional awareness to put emotional reactions in perspective...you're right that there are a lot of folks who know a lot but don't seem to know how to handle the emotional stimulation, as well (we all struggle with this, but some people struggle with it more than others, obviously)...
Though my experience is that, on average, the most intelligent people I know are often the people with the most perspective...almost my definition, really, at some level, as those with the deepest intelligence develop it by expanding their worldview in ways that both puts upsetting issues in the world in perspective (e.g. this person cutting me off on the highway is not nearly as upsetting as Israel invading Lebanon) and to more realistically accept those things that are upsetting that either are persistent in a way that is upsetting or in a way that seems to not be changeable...
Joe Nye -- one of the more brilliant international policy thinkers I'm familiar with -- probably has more emotional perspective than your average bear because he's constantly working on issues like genocide, Middle East peace, nuclear proliferation and other really difficult and upsetting issues constantly...a lot of people would likely struggle with that much input and less perspective...but what makes the guy's work so good is the depth of perspective that he has to offer:)...
Have a great time in Dublin, Joanna:):)...
Ben
That doesn't surprise me. Just looking around SENG's web site, I got the impression that the people running (a) are not gifted themselves and (b) are only interested in studying gifted people like bugs under a scope and pathologizing us. They're from the same tired old schools of psychology and education. If we want something useful done correctly, we'll have to do it ourselves. I'm glad you're going ahead with your book.
Post a Comment
# posted by : 11:27 AM
: 11:27 AM << Home
