Korean Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Academic Brilliance

Abstract

This is a replication of a study designed by Tannenbaum (1962) and repeated by Cramond and Martin (1987) measuring U.S. attitudes toward intelligence by having respondents rate 8 hypothetical students who varied in their combinations of athleticism, effort, and academic ability. This study investigated 132 Korean preservice and in-service teachers’ attitudes on the same measure. Both Korean teacher groups favored athleticism and nonstudiousness over academic brilliance and showed a gender bias by designating their preferred characters as boys more often. The least favored character was the academically brilliant, studious, nonathletic student—often considered traditionally gifted—and usually designated as a girl. The anti-intellectualism, sport-mindedness, and gender bias in the present study’s Korean participants was similar to that found in the American samples. These results suggest a need for better teacher training and understanding of gifted students. This study is important because it reminds us of future and current teachers’ views of gifted students, especially in Korea, where gifted education is now being initiated. Also, it demonstrates the ubiquitous nature of anti-intellectualism, even in a country considered to value academics.

Parent-teacher Shared Commitment as a Predictor for Teachers’ Attitudes toward Gifted Students and Gifted Education

“…Yet, interestingly, teacher experience was not a good predictor of attitudes. This confirmed previous research that number of years teaching had little or no association with positive attitudes toward gifted students (Cramond & Martin, 1987;Hanninen, 1988;Lee et al, 2004;Schack & Starko 1990). These results created a gap in the researchers' understanding: if simply having a gifted program yielded support for the program, then why did teachers' experiences with this program (and other experiences) not affect their attitudes toward it?…”

“…One would have guessed that having greater understanding of the unique characteristics and needs of gifted students would lead to teachers displaying more positive attitudes toward gifted students and gifted education. Moreover, teacher experience has been found to have little or no relations to teacher attitudes towards gifted education (Cramond & Martin, 1987;Lee et al, 2004;McCoach & Siegle, 2007;Schack & Starko 1990). To further confirm that teachers' attitudes toward gifted students are not well established, some studies have suggested that pre-service and experienced teachers with specialized training in gifted education tend to have more positive attitudes toward gifted students and are likely to deploy gifted education strategies such as acceleration (Heckenberg, 2001;Megay-Nespoli, 2001;Rash & Miller, 2000).…”

The Importance of Teachers' Attitude in Nurturing and Educating Gifted Children

“…The study of Lee et al (2004) disproved this assumption. In this study of 132 Korean preservice and inservice teachers' attitudes towards students, it was found that both Korean teacher groups favored athleticism and nonstudiousness over academic brilliance.…”

Adolescent Perception of Potential High-Performing Classmates: A Cross-National Exploration

“…High school students were asked to rate each of the hypothetical students who varied in the eight combinations of the dichotomous attributes (brilliant or average; athletic or nonathletic; and studious or non-studious). The derived measurement was replicated (Cramond & Martin, 1987) and adapted in other countries (Carrington, 1996;Lee, Cramond, & Lee, 2016;Rudowicz, 2007). Data from the studies indicated that students do not reject brilliant classmates on the grounds of exceptional intellectual ability.…”