Kristen R. Stephens

Elements associated with social and emotional education include a wide range of personal attributes, including value systems, attitudes, interests, feelings and emotions, interpersonal relationships, and character and leadership. With so many factors linked to social and emotional education, the affective domain should be given a priority in school curricula. However, prior to crises or overt threats, schools have traditionally paid little attention to the social and emotional needs of the student body. The author explains the necessity of social and emotional education in nurturing the development of gifted students and offers strategies for the classroom that work for both groups and individuals.

In order to stimulate creative development among gifted students, the use of questioning techniques has proven to be a successful strategy for encouraging purposeful inquiry. Students need to learn to generate alternatives to solving real-world problems, and teachers can help them do this by regularly incorporating divergent questions in the classroom. Teachers can incorporate questions effectively by knowing the various purposes, types, and intended outcomes and by establishing a classroom climate that promotes active engagement, exploration, and inquiry to further student achievement.