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Cultivating psychosocial skills within EMS

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Focusing on psychosocial skills within EMS is crucial as they are most relevant to the talent domain, ensuring students apply them directly rather than in isolation.

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Focusing on psychosocial skills within EMS is crucial as they are most relevant to the talent domain, ensuring students apply them directly rather than in isolation.

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Click to launch the Padlet. EMS teachers can use the same site for sharing of strategies that (i) are generic and across domains, and (ii) specific to the subject.

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Supporting students' transition to the RC

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We are developing an orientation programme for HALs at Regional Centres to help them balance school and RC commitments, build friendships, and foster belonging, as they meet only once a week.

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We are developing an orientation programme for HALs at Regional Centres to help them balance school and RC commitments, build friendships, and foster belonging, as they meet only once a week.

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Click to launch the Padlet site.

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Psychosocial Strength Training: The Missing Piece in Talent Development

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Psychosocial Strength Training: The Missing Piece in Talent Development

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January 2015 Gifted Child Today 38(1):41-48

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We will be exploring CCE (FTGP) for HALs’ socio-emotional support due to its explicit SEL teaching and form teachers’ role in student well-being and class community.

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We will be exploring CCE (FTGP) for HALs’ socio-emotional support due to its explicit SEL teaching and form teachers’ role in student well-being and class community.

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Click to launch the Padlet dedicated to this purpose.

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Components of Talent Development Programming

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Components of Talent Development Programming

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Components of Talent Development Programming

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Talent development, as a framework for gifted education, is gaining traction among scholars and practitioners. Its foundation can be found in a synthesis…

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Gifted Kid Burnout Is Real—How to Spot the Signs and Overcome It

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Gifted Kid Burnout Is Real—How to Spot the Signs and Overcome It

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Most gifted kids will tell you that being gifted comes with plenty of benefits, but it's not always sunshine and rainbows. Gifted kids often struggle with high expectations, a drive toward perfectionism, tons of outside pressure-not to mention extra sensitive temperaments. As a result, many gifted kids experience something known as gifted kid burnout.

Although gifted kid burnout may sound like the latest buzzword, it's a very real phenomenon. "Just as the name implies, 'gifted kid burnout' is when a gifted kid experiences exhaustion, frustration, and diminished motivation due to persistent pressure to excel and meet high expectations," says Monika Roots, MD, child psychiatrist and co-founder of Bend Health.

Wondering how common gifted kid burnout is, what it looks like, what its impacts are, and how to prevent it? We've got you covered. Here, we'll take a close look at this phenomenon.

What Is Gifted Kid Burnout?

Ok, so what is gifted kid burnout, exactly?

As Dr. Roots describes it, being gifted can sometimes feel like you are in a race without a finish line. "Because of the child or teen's giftedness, they are often driven by perfectionism and societal pressure, always pushing the goal further away," she describes.

When this happens, many kids just give up, Dr. Roots says. They become exhausted, and may show signs of burnout, which is a kind of mental, emotional, physical depletion and exhaustion that happens from having to perform all the time with the extreme level of stress and expectations.

Gifted kid burnout is a legit phenomenon, says Rachel Goldberg, LMFT, founder of Rachel Goldberg Therapy in Los Angeles, CA. You may spot it when a gifted kid starts to show behaviors that are unusual for them. "This can sometimes manifest in a decline in performance and motivation, but more often presents as increased irritability, social withdrawal, or a mental health issue such as OCD, anxiety, or an eating disorder," Goldberg explains.

"I think it's very common to see burnout among gifted children, but typically it's transient," Dr. Goldberg describes. "It's more rare to see it evolve into severe conditions, but definitely happens in situations where the child begins to identify themselves solely through their talent."

What Contributes to Gifted Kid Burnout?

Each gifted child is unique, and may have different experiences as they navigate school. When it comes to factors that contribute to gifted kid burnout, it's usually a few different factors interacting at once. Let's take a look at some of the most common causes.

Higher Demands

Gifted kids often find it pretty easy to perform well academically when they are young. They may sail through elementary school, where the work itself is easy for them and where the workload isn't too heavy. But when expectations are higher and workloads are more significant, gifted kids may start to struggle, says Becca Wallace, PsyD, a clinical pediatric psychologist at Children's Hospital New Orleans.

"This becomes a struggle for gifted students as the educational material becomes more challenging and the learning curve gets steeper, and they begin to struggle in areas they never have before and find themselves in unchartered territory," she explains.

This often occurs when a gifted kid goes from being the top of their class to more average, such as when they transition to a more challenging academic program. It may also happen when they transition from high school to college, Dr. Wallace says. "They can get burned out, having to function at a high level of expectation for a prolonged period, often years, and reach a point where they just cannot keep up," she says.

External Pressures

You can't underestimate the impacts that external pressure has on gifted kids, says Goldberg. "Once labeled as gifted, parents/caregivers-and to a lesser degree, teachers-typically become excited to have their child capitalize on their talent for their future success," she says. "Consequently, they set higher expectations and may push the child more intensely than they would other siblings or compared to their peers."

For example, they may express disappointment when a gifted kid's performance is merely average, which can lead to stress and burnout for kids.

Personality Traits And Brain Differences

Gifted kids tend to have certain personality traits and temperaments that may make them more vulnerable to burnout, Dr. Roots notes. "They are often very sensitive, fear failure and rejection, are perfectionists, and sometimes struggle socially," she explains. "Left unchecked, these can become complex behavioral concerns that schools are not adequately prepared to support."

Additionally, although not every gifted child may be diagnosed with a type of neurodiversity, giftedness is often associated with neurodiversity, including autism spectrum disorders.

Children with neurodivergent brains "often experience burnout more intensely than other kids," Dr. Roots says. "They often have more of a cognitive response and exhibit brain fog, detachment, and sometimes difficulties completing basic tasks and self-care."

What Does Gifted Kid Burnout Look Like?

Gifted kid burnout will look different for each kid, depending on their life circumstances, personality, age, and temperament. Gifted kid burnout might look similar to other kinds of burnout, if you're familiar with that from your own working life. According to the definition of burnout from the National Institutes of Health, there are three main signs of burnout: exhaustion, alienation from work (or school-related activities), and reduced performance.

In gifted kids, burnout can often manifest as physical health complaints, says Dr. Wallace. "We see kids coming in for functional abdominal pain, nausea, headaches, dizziness, insomnia, or hypersomnia," she says.

Kids may also display intense emotional symptoms, she says, such as being shut down or ambivalent about everything. Or, they may show extreme emotions, like crying constantly or being worried about seemingly everything. Some gifted kids with burnout may also show signs of isolation and lack of motivation, Dr. Wallace says.

According to Goldberg, other signs of burnout in gifted kids may include:

Increased irritability with schoolwork

A propensity to downplay their knowledge in an effort to lower others' expectations

Obsessive thought patterns, such as extreme distress over low grades or incorrect answers

Difficulties making life choices, like what to wear or what to eat

And how can we tell the difference between regular life stress and burnout? "Unlike typical stress, which is fleeting, burnout in gifted children persists across various settings for long periods of time, even those unrelated to their talents," Goldberg describes.

Impact of Gifted Kid Burnout

Although most cases of gifted kid burnout are usually temporary, experiencing burnout can have strong impacts on kids. Sometimes, these results can actually have impacts that endure into adulthood.

One impact of gifted kid burnout is that kids may develop a strong perfectionistic streak, which usually doesn't serve them well, Dr. Wallace says.

Gifted kid burnout can have mental health implications, too. The burnout can cause kids to develop anxiety or depression, stemming from the idea that they can never be "good enough," Dr. Wallace explains. "Burnout can transition to anxiety and/or depression as students do not know how to cope or their identity beyond their label as a gifted student," she says.

Burnout can also lead some kids to lose interest in school or stop making any efforts to do well, Goldberg says. "This can occur at any time and often does not manifest until after high school," she explains. "For instance, a student may begin college, but then choose to drop out because of the struggle four more years of competing would entail."

Another aspect of gifted kid burnout is that kids might withdraw from social situations in order to focus on work and getting higher grades. This can lead to social issues, social anxiety, and social immaturity as kids develop, Goldberg says.

These impacts can be long-lasting and persist into adulthood. "It may lead to mental health issues such as OCD, anxiety, panic attacks, and eating disorders, many of which may stem from wanting to gain a sense of control," Goldberg describes.

Strategies to Prevent Gifted Kid Burnout

If you are a parent whose gifted kid is struggling, you may feel stressed and unsure of what to do. We get it. The struggle is real, especially when you have a gifted kid who is burning out, or who you are afraid is on the brink of burning out.

But you aren't powerless here. There are several things parents can do to prevent gifted kid burnout.

Here are Dr. Wallace's top tips:

Do your best not to emphasize perfection or that kids need top grades in all subjects.

Teach your child to learn from failure and have a "growth mindset".

Encourage your child to grow in areas other than academics, such as hobbies and extracurricular activities.

Teach children to take study breaks.

Don't compare your child to their siblings, friends, classmates, or your own school performances

Don't connect academic achievement with being loved or accepted.

If your child is accepted into a gifted program or accelerated class, discuss the pros and cons with them and allow them the choice to say "No".

Support for Parents and Educators

If your child is gifted and you have concerns about burnout, you should stay in touch with your child's school counselors, teachers, or therapist, Goldberg says.

The same is true of educators. Anyone who cares for a gifted student should be on the lookout for signs of burnout, stress, concerning behavior, or perfectionistic tendencies, Goldberg says. The sooner these issues are addressed, the sooner they can be resolved.

Goldberg says that the website Childmind.org is a wonderful resource for both parents and educators and offers support regarding gifted kid's mental health, including burnout.

Becoming an Advocate

Sometimes schools offer great support for gifted kids, but lots of the time, gifted kids tend to fall through the cracks. According to Dr. Roots, when your child's school isn't supporting your gifted child adequately, you need to become their advocate.

If your child's school doesn't have the resources to meet your child's needs, you can work with the school to develop a plan. "Don't be afraid to vocalize your concerns," Dr. Roots says. "Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) does not support 'giftedness,' state and local law usually specifies that districts must provide special instruction and services to gifted students."

The Bottom Line

Lots of people think gifted kids have it easy because academics tend to come naturally for them. But being gifted definitely has its challenges, and gifted kid burnout is one of them. There's hope, though. As parents, we can teach kids to manage their feelings around grades, perfectionism, and what it means to be successful. We can also help gifted kids get the help and resources they need so that they can meet their academic goals while keeping their mental health intact.

If you have further questions about gifted kid burnout, please reach out to your child's teachers, school staff, or a mental health professional.

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Gifted Kid Burnout Is Real-How to Spot the Signs and Overcome It As an Adult

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Gifted kids often struggle with high expectations, a drive toward perfectionism, tons of outside pressure-not to mention extra sensitive temperaments.

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The Big Read in Short: What does it mean to be a gifted child?

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The Big Read in Short: What does it mean to be a gifted child?

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New: You can now listen to articles.

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Each week, TODAY's long-running Big Read series delves into the trends and issues that matter. This week, we look at the concept of giftedness, if it can be nurtured and what relevance it has in schools and workplaces. This is a shortened version of the full feature, which can be found here.

The Gifted Education Programme will be discontinued in its current form to allow more students to benefit from it

While more students will benefit from the programme, it has reignited a decades-old debate about how giftedness is defined and whether a child can be moulded to be gifted

Education experts said that while giftedness is defined differently globally, such children have to have innate intellect and then be nurtured to their full potential

It is also a common misconception, they said, that gifted children need less support as such children may display socio-emotional issues if not properly engaged

There are also gifted children who are late bloomers as well as those who are gifted in just specific interest areas

SINGAPORE - At work, Ms Neha Dharma is like any of her other colleagues. The 24-year-old Singaporean human resource consultant based in Sydney, Australia does not have all the answers, sometimes makes mistakes and even gets chided by her boss.

This was perhaps not what her 10-year-old self would have imagined when she was part of a small group of pupils specially selected from Singapore schools to attend the Gifted Education Programme (GEP).

"We were told (by our teachers) that we're all gifted...that we should be doing better. I started putting pressure on myself because I slowly started believing this idea that I should be gifted," said Ms Dharma, noting how the "gifted" label came with unrealistic expectations set not only by teachers and parents, but also herself.

Nevertheless, she enjoyed the stimulating classes and group projects under the GEP at St Hilda's Primary School - though she didn't do as well as she expected in her Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), getting 253 out of a possible 300 points under the old scoring system.

Recalling how she was "devastated" at her results, Ms Dharma said: "At that moment, I felt like I had messed up my entire life... I came to the conclusion that I was not gifted like I was told, and I wasted everyone's time and resources."

She went on to study at Raffles Girls' School and later graduated from Australia's University of New South Wales in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in commerce.

Now, at the workplace, her "giftedness" is not something she would bring up "because it's weird talking about something that happened so long ago, and I don't think I'm special or gifted".

Ms Dharma's experience is not unique: Many GEPers - as students who have gone through the programme call themselves - have contributed to society in their own ways, even if some of them are quick to downplay their achievements or "giftedness".

In response to TODAY's queries, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said GEP alumni have made significant contributions to both private and public service, in diverse fields including academia, arts, law, medicine, research, entrepreneurship and technology. It added that some have gained international recognition for their areas of specialisation and many are also active leaders in the community and social sectors.

But what exactly is "giftedness"? How is it measured? Can it be trained or nurtured? What is its relevance in today's educational systems and the workplace?

WHY IT MATTERS

The GEP - with all its pros and cons - is once again being dissected after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced at his inaugural National Day Rally this year that the programme would be discontinued in its current form to benefit more students.

Starting with the 2024 Pri 1 cohort, the revamped GEP will cut across all 180 primary schools, and students will be able to join the programme for the particular subjects that they are strong in.

With the revamp, MOE estimates that about 10 per cent of students will be able to benefit across 180 schools. Currently, just 1 per cent - around 370 to 400 students - of each cohort participates in the GEP, while school-based higher-ability programmes benefit 7 per cent of the cohort.

Instead of two rounds of selection tests involving English language, mathematics and general ability papers at Pri 3, students will take only English language and mathematics papers in the new GEP.

Teachers' day-to-day observations and students' work will also be taken into account in assessing their suitability. Students can join the programme from Pri 4 to 6, instead of just one time at Pri 4.

The changes represent a shift in how MOE defines and characterises gifted children. But as some experts pointed out, academic performance still remains central in defining a child's potential to be stretched further through the GEP.

THE BIG PICTURE

The MOE told TODAY that higher-ability learners tend to demonstrate a high level of curiosity and creativity and can learn faster than their peers.

"They find, solve and act on problems more readily and can grasp abstract ideas and make connections between different concepts," it said, adding that these traits are supported by international literature.

If solely based on Intelligence Quotient (IQ), gifted children are often considered to have an IQ of 130 or higher. The average IQ is 100.

However, education experts noted that giftedness is defined differently around the world and there are other characteristics beyond IQ to be considered.

Associate Professor Jason Tan from the National Institute of Education (NIE), who does research in comparative education and education reform, said that while Singapore has tended to adopt a more academic approach in its definition, some countries take into account different talents such as excellence in the arts and sports.

Even the way gifted students are classified can be different. In Taiwan, its Education Ministry views giftedness as a form of special needs, he said.

"In other words, these children are quite different from the bulk of other children, and need some kind of special services and special activities to suit their giftedness," said Assoc Prof Tan.

He added that growing research on gifted children has also found that giftedness is not universal across various domains.

A child might be, for example, gifted in languages but average in mathematics.

However, identifying gifted children can be challenging.

For one, they are more likely to have neurodevelopmental conditions compared to their peers. This phenomenon arises because profoundly high levels of intelligence stems from atypical neurological patterns and development.

Gifted children might also have asynchronous development, which is when a child's intellectual abilities exceed their emotional or social maturity, said experts.

Dr Chee Ai Lian, master specialist in gifted education at MOE's Gifted Education Branch, added that some children might be "late-bloomers" when it comes to displaying their potential. With the current GEP having a single national standardised test at Pri 3, these students might be left out.

"These learners differ in their readiness for advanced learning in different areas. So, even though a child could be precocious, they may not yet be ready to commit to more advanced learning," she said.

But as these children mature and grow, they might eventually show signs that they enjoy the intellectual challenge.

"That's why the refreshed GEP hopes to be able to pick up students at different junctures when they are ready, ensuring they are not left behind," she said.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Dr Ho Boon Tiong, principal consultant educationist at training and consulting firm ClassPoint Consulting, said: "From an education standpoint, it is worth the investment to ensure no wasted talent. Also, in terms of access and equity, we need to ensure that those with special needs and learning needs on both ends of the spectrum are supported."

Two child psychologists also told TODAY that it is a common misconception that gifted children need less support. Without support, gifted children risk underachieving or burning out as they grow older.

While the upcoming revamp will benefit more youngsters, some education experts have reservations about relying on teachers' observations to identify potential students for the revamped GEP.

Dr Ho said that gifted children might showcase disruptive behaviour in school as they lack the intellectual stimulation they need, making them seem inattentive rather than gifted.

Thus, Dr Ho questioned if a teacher's day-to-day observations would be accurate as a tool in determining a child's suitability for the programme.

"Gifted children are very different from one another. So there needs to be a holistic approach through multiple observations in varying contexts, not just in the classroom," he said.

He added that teachers could keep a keen eye on their students in other settings as well, such as during recess or even at home.

However, Dr Chee said students will still go through a national standardised test, which will be used with "other sources of information such as teacher observations and student work" to determine a student's suitability for the revamped GEP.

She added that the Gifted Education Branch has been training teachers to spot talent by observing a child's traits, which cannot be assessed by tests alone. Such traits include persistence, curiosity, reasoning and the ability to seek, find and solve problems.

Assoc Prof Tan is also concerned that students who are considered gifted and might have additional intellectual, psychological and emotional needs might be sidelined when the GEP is expanded to more students. This refers to students who might be neurodivergent, or have asynchronous development.

"In this regard, MOE has been actively promoting this idea of differentiated instruction, that a teacher should be able to try and customise their teaching and learning approaches," he said.

"So, the hope is that even as the boundaries are being blurred, teachers of these high-ability programmes will be able to differentiate their instructional and assessment strategies to reach out to the genuine needs of these intellectually gifted students."

As for several GEP alumni, the hope is that the revamp will address their concern about the pressures children face when they are labelled as gifted.

Mr Edric Sng, a pastor who was part of the GEP from 1989 to 1995, said that the revamped system should allow more children access to gifted education, regardless of their family background and ability to afford enrichment classes.

However, he added it is important that parents and teachers ensure children do not feel their self-worth is defined by their academic performance, or by being part of the GEP.

"The programme should be to build a generation of forward and progressive thinkers... Not to determine a child's worth based on whether they are gifted," he said.

Gifted Education Programme MOE

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The Big Read in Short: What does it mean to be a gifted child?

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SINGAPORE - At work, Ms Neha Dharma is like any of her other colleagues. The 24-year-old Singaporean human resource consultant based in Sydney, Australia does not have all the answers, sometimes makes mistakes and even gets chided by her boss.

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Rena Subotnik: An Interview with an Icon in the Field

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Rena Subotnik: An Interview with an Icon in the Field

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How often do you focus on cultivating psychosocial skills, such as stress management, resilience, constructive feedback, collaboration, and teamwork, in your daily practice?