DYS Homeroom

This week we continued with Dabrowki’s Theory of Positive Disintegration and compared levels four and five to self-actualization in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. We compared and contrasted the theories while summarizing our insights in our own words. This requires significant abstract thought and higher-level thinking. As always, these students did a great job.  Level 4 (Dabrowski’s theory): People at level four live free of social convention in a way closely matching their ideal self. If they worked hard to articulate their ideal self in level three, they have a well-thought-out approach to living along with a guide for ideal behavior in level four.   In essence, their ideal life is aligned with the way they actually experience their day.  They show compassion for others and self-acceptance for themselves in the space where they used to compare themselves to others (or their inner ideal).  Focus turns outside of themselves again, but not in terms of conflict or judging like at level on

This week we discussed Kazimierz Dabrowski's "Theory of Positive Disintegration." (Our introduction to “overexcitabilities” in the previous weeks served as a relevant jumping off point for understanding his complex and profound observations.) Dabrowski was a European humanist counterpart to Maslow. His research involving positive psychology didn't become as famous and is still mostly confined to the world of gifted education. One of the many ways i t differs from Maslow's hierarchy of needs involves allowing for self-actualization in individuals who don't have their lower level needs met (physiological, safety, relationships, etc.). Also, growth in terms of his theory takes what Dabrowski called "developmental potential." It's wise to think of his "theory" as more of a personal philosophy. That being said, his under-explored research can be very insightful for creative individuals going through difficult periods internally or in the

This week we enjoyed an exciting class reflecting on topics specific to gifted psychology. Overexcitabilities are one aspect of a personal philosophy called "The Theory of Positive Disintegration" developed by the Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski. To start, Dabrowski thought of “overexcitabilities” as “developmental potential” for highly original thinkers. In other words, these are the factors that launch someone on a unique path and unique trajectory as a gifted individual. According to his theory, these are the five overexcitabilities that can cause people who are gifted to be quite intense: - Imaginational - Intellectual - Psychomotor - Sensual (five senses) - Emotional We went through a definition of each of these along with some checklists to see which ones students identified with the most (maybe all five)! Some lingering questions to consider include: Why would overexcitabilities set someone on a unique path in life?  What overexcitability dominates you the most