A Pilot Study: Teacher Views on the Concept of Giftedness in the Early Childhood Setting

Abstract

Much has been written about acceleration (Feldhusen, Hannon & Black, 1995), teaching strategies (Kitano, 1982; 1989), and underachievement (Clark, 1992) of gifted and talented primary and secondary school children. Studies such as those of Gross (1986) indicate that educational programming for the gifted is largely dictated by teacher perception and expectation. Other research shows that the learning needs of young gifted children often remain unmet (Gross, 1995). This study explores early childhood teachers’ perceptions of young gifted and talented children and their programming needs through open interviews with three rural teachers. The findings indicate that the gifted children in their care, aside from perhaps the exceptionally or profoundly gifted (Harrison, 1995, p.22), still remain unidentified; and that the teachers see their roles primarily as facilitators, reserving the use of a more interventionist approach mainly for children with deficit needs. The outcome of the study points to the need for further research and a possible re-examination of preservice and in-service teacher education in the area of young gifted and talented children.

Teachers’ Conceptions of Gifted and Talented Young Children

“…Reported here, however, are the results charting teachers' conceptions in a more general sense, as the first step in exploring the major question, which is why teachers appear to nominate boys rather than girls for enrichment in mathematics and science. Similar studies examining teachers' conceptions of giftedness have been conducted elsewhere (Busse, Dahme, Wagner & Wieczerkowski, 1986;McBride, 1988;Wolfe & Southern, 1991;Copenhaver & McIntyre, 1992;Rohrer, 1995;Sternberg & Zhang, 1995;Persson, 1997;Wellisch, 1997).…”

Same Age, Different Page: Overcoming the Barriers to Catering for Young Gifted Children in Prior-to-School Settings

“…Young gifted children may gravitate more towards interaction with the educator or older children than with same-age peers (Clark 2002;Dalzell 1998;Harrison and Tegel 1999;Silverman nd). If a perceived lack of social skills and a preference for solitary play (Wellisch 1997) and the company of adults are used as reasons to encourage parents to delay a child's entry to school beyond usual entry age or to discourage early entry (Diezmann et al 2001;Rankin and Vialle 1996), this could mistakenly work against the needs of young gifted children.…”

“…However, despite a focus on the importance of the family in early childhood education, some early childhood educators remain sceptical about parents' abilities to correctly identify young gifted children (Wellisch 1997). Gross (1986) has suggested that, despite a widely held but false perception that all middleclass parents believe their child is gifted, gifted children are found in every social stratum and in every cultural group, and parent perceptions are usually accurate.…”

Üstün Yetenekli Çocuk Algı Ölçeği’nin Geliştirilmesi

“…Halbuki üstün yetenekli çocukların potansiyellerinin başarıya göre daha öncelikli olarak göz önünde bulundurulması gerekmektedir (Plunkett, 2000). Öğretmenler üstün yetenekli çocukların belirlenmesi ve desteklenmesi konularında sınırlı bir görüşe ve bilgiye sahiptir (Hall, 2001;Hodge ve Kemp, 2006;McKinnon, 1998;Moon ve Brighton, 2008;Wellisch, 1997;Whitton, 1997). Özellikle erken çocukluk döneminden görev yapan okul öncesi öğretmenleri ile sınıf öğretmenlerinin üstün yetenekli çocukların doğası ve ihtiyaçları hakkında çok az farkındalığa sahip oldukları bilinmektedir (McKinnon, 1998;Moon ve Brighton, 2008;Sankar-Deleeuw, 1999;Whitton, 1997).…”