The social-emotional competencies of gifted children must be intentionally developed, ideally in inclusive education contexts

Traditionally, giftedness was perceived as a fixed trait, exclusively evaluated through cognitive testing. However, contemporary perspectives view it as a dynamic and socially constructed attribute reflected in many domains. As this paradigm-shift aligns with global movements emphasizing the importance of avoiding labelling students and enhancing the full potential of all students, rather than just a selected few, it puts a spotlight on the social-emotional and character development (SECD) competencies needed to reach one’s potential. What we propose is an educational challenge: to establish increasingly inclusive educational contexts that bring out the potential of all students and extend educational techniques to encompass social-emotional and relational capacities essential for inclusive contexts. This paper introduces teaching techniques that foster these competencies through an SECD framework. This approach not only aims to nurture the potential of gifted individuals but also to cultivate their roles as proactive, engaged community members, emphasizing a comprehensive educational paradigm that integrates SECD into everyday inclusive learning environments.