Primary Teacher Conceptions of Giftedness: Image, Evidence, and Nonevidence

Abstract

This qualitative multisite single case study is designed to explore the conception of giftedness held by four experienced teachers. These teachers were from three school districts piloting the Early Assessment for Exceptional Potential portfolio assessment model (Shaklee, Barbour, Ambrose, Viechnicki, d Rohrer, 1991). Teacher interviews triangulated by multiple secondary sources were analyzed t o answer the research question guiding the study: How do primary teachers conceptualize giftedness in young children l Findings revealed that the four teachers shared a similar image of giftedness. This conception had t w o dmensions: classroom performance and affective style of the students. Teachers assessed children developmentally against their peers for extremely unusual intellectual and/or academic ability as demonstrated b y what children said and did, and a "spark," or qualitative difference in these children characterized b y intensity, high visibility, and/or uniqueness. Four strands of evidence created the teachers' image of child potential.The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the conception of giftedness held by four primary teachers (two kindergarten and two first grade) as they engaged in the assessment and identification of students with exceptional potential within their classrooms. Specifically, the research question guiding this study was: How do primary teachers conceptualize giftedness in young children: (a) What beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions about gifted students are held by primary teachers? (b) What lines of evidence do primary teachers use to reach the conclusion that a child has exceptional potential? (c) What observable evidence is not used? This study was one strand of a larger study exploring both teacher conceptions of giftedness and the imJane C.

Teachers’ Conceptions of Giftedness and Special Needs of Gifted Students

“…Gerçekleştirilen fenomen grafik analizler sonucunda üstün zekâlı öğrencilerle ilgili yedi kavram orta çıkmıştır: üstünlük, potansiyel, nadirlik, fark edilebilirlik, doğuştan gelen yetenek, motivasyon ve eş zamanlı olmayan gelişim. Rohrer (1995) dört uzman öğretmen ile görüşmeler yapmıştır ve öğretmenlerin üstün zekâlı öğrencileri diğer öğrencilerden ayırırken sadece öğrencilerin zihinsel performanslarını değil hissi yoğunluk, görünürlük ve eşsizlik gibi nitel özelliklerini de dikkate aldıklarını belirtmiştir. Hem Lee (1999) hem de Rohrer (1995) yaptıkları araştırmalarda öğretmenlerin üstün zekâlı öğrencilerin belirlenmesinde akranlarına göre sınıf içinde belirgin şekilde yüksek performans gösteren öğrencilere odaklandıklarını göstermiştir.…”

“…Fakat öğretmenler bu tanılamada öğrencilerin motivasyonlarını, sınıf içi davranışlarını (Moon ve Brighton, 2008;Neumeister, Adams, Pierce, Cassady ve Dixon, 2007) ve aile ortamlarını (Rohrer, 1995) da göz önünde bulundurmaktadırlar. Bu durum da öğretmenlerin üstün zekâlı azınlık öğrencileri tanılamada yanılgı yaşamalarına sebep olabilmektedir.…”

Gifted preschoolers:Parent and teacher views on identification, early admission and programming

“…Rohrer (1995) found a two-dimensional conception of giftedness to be held by four primary (two kindergarten and two first grade) teachers: classroom performance (extremely unusual intellectual and/or academic ability) and affective style (intensity, high visibility, and/or uniqueness). Sankar-DeLeeuw (1995, 1997 found a strong similarity (91%) in parents' and teachers' characterizations of the early abilities indicative of young gifted children.…”

How Do Preservice Teachers Conceptualize Giftedness? A Metaphor Analysis

“…Teachers believe that giftedness is equally distributed among many facets of society, but they have trouble describing characteristics of gifted students from underserved populations (Cribbs, 2009;Moon & Brighton, 2008). Teachers easily identify students with exceptional academic performance as gifted, but they also consider factors such as students' family environments (Rohrer, 1995) and the students' motivation and classroom behavior (Moon & Brighton, 2008;Neumeister, Adams, Pierce, Cassady, & Dixon, 2007), which may impair their ability to identify gifted students in underserved populations. Interview studies by Lee (1999) and Rohrer (1995) both include the finding that teachers compare students' classroom performances against that of other students to determine which students are performing noticeably better.…”

“…Teachers easily identify students with exceptional academic performance as gifted, but they also consider factors such as students' family environments (Rohrer, 1995) and the students' motivation and classroom behavior (Moon & Brighton, 2008;Neumeister, Adams, Pierce, Cassady, & Dixon, 2007), which may impair their ability to identify gifted students in underserved populations. Interview studies by Lee (1999) and Rohrer (1995) both include the finding that teachers compare students' classroom performances against that of other students to determine which students are performing noticeably better. In the Lee (1999) study, teachers working with young students conceived of giftedness as excellence, rarity, potential, behavior, innate ability, high motivation in areas of personal interest, and asynchrony.…”