Human education: Educating gifted children in Singapore on self-knowledge

Abstract

Since time immemorial, education has facilitated the development of civilisation and progress with the teaching of scientific and literary knowledge in schools. As the human race becomes more and more globalised, new forms of education are needed to meet the exigencies of the times. This paper proposes to include human education, specifically the education on self-knowledge, in the school curriculum as a catalyst to speed up the development of gifts and talents and hence the realisation of human potential. A total of 497 Primary 5 pupils in the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) in Singapore were taught a series of self-knowledge lessons. These lessons included instruction on the character make-up, intellectual functioning, volitional attributes, social abilities, and other personal skills.