Preservice Preschool Teachers Views on the Characteristics of Gifted Children

Abstract

This study aims to investigate preservice preschool teachers' views on gifted children. Mixed method was conducted in the study. "The Scale for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Gifted and Talented Students", developed by Şahin (2012), and semi-structured interview forms were used. The findings indicate that preservice preschool teachers associate giftedness with cognitive characteristics in general. Therefore, they usually focus on cognitive skills when the basic characteristics of gifted children are in question. Their responses to the scale show that they believe that these children are gifted in problem solving skills and general cognitive skills, but hesitant in communicative and social skills.

Serving Vulnerable and Marginalized Populations in Social and Educational Contexts

“…Teachers likewise noted that some of their students were reportedly advanced in some areas of physical development. Some gifted children's physical or psychomotor skills developed faster than most children their age (Yazici et al, 2017). For instance, parents in Ogurlu and Çetinkaya (2012) study, reported that their gifted children walked earlier or toilettrained faster.…”

“…Other studies showed that teachers often associate giftedness with more positive characteristics (Moon and Brighton, 2008), and defined it based on gifted students' exemplary skills and abilities, such as cognitive capacities, motor skills, and social skills (Yazici et al, 2017). Overall, teachers often explained that the skills that these children possess are significantly more developed compared to children's chronological age.…”

“…In some studies, nonetheless, teachers noted specific intellectual abilities that they found significantly advanced among gifted children. These include strong reasoning skills, a broad fund of knowledge, a wide vocabulary (Moon and Brighton, 2008), reading skills and reading comprehension, problem-solving, attention and memory, speed in processing, and creativity (Ogurlu and Çetinkaya, 2012;Dal Forno et al, 2015;Yazici et al, 2017). Teachers believe that these competencies were developed experientially in stimulating home environments.…”

“…Some gifted children were also noted to possess social skills that are more developed than other children. More specifically, they were described as sociable, able to relate well with peers, can make friends relatively easily (Grant, 2013;Yazici et al, 2017), and have a strong connection with their community (Moon and Brighton, 2008). As early as preschool age, they demonstrate empathy, can sympathize with others (Yazici et al, 2017), and exude leadership qualities (Kettler et al, 2017a;Yazici et al, 2017).…”

ERCoRe Learning Model to Improve Creative-Thinking Skills of Preservice Biology Teachers

“…Teachers are the key to changing and improving the quality of Education (Prachagool, Nuangchalerm, Ganakumaran, & Dostal, 2016). They have a big duty to recognize, identify, and know the characteristics of their students so that positive interactions are created in providing advanced education to young people (Kaendler, Wiedmann, Rummel, & Spada, 2015;Yazici, Akman, Uzun, & Kardes, 2017;Macaulay, Betts, Stiller, & Kellezi, 2018). Preservice teachers must have a good understanding of helping students develop thinking skills (Amponsah, Kwei, & Ernest, 2019) by paying attention to individual needs and abilities (Agbowuro, Saidu, & Jimwan, 2017).…”