What Predicts Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Gifted?

Abstract

The present study explores teachers' attitudes toward the gifted and gifted education. Specifically, the authors examine whether teachers tailor their responses about attitudes toward the gifted to fit the perceived interests of the researcher. In addition, the authors examine several potential predictors of attitudes toward the gifted: training or experience in gifted education, training or experience in special education, and self-perceptions as gifted. A total of 262 teachers participate in the study. The perceived epistemic interests of the researcher do not affect teachers' selfreported attitudes toward the gifted. Teachers who had received training in gifted education hold higher perceptions of themselves as gifted. However, teachers' self-perceptions as gifted are unrelated to their attitudes toward gifted education. Finally, special education teachers hold slightly lower attitudes toward the gifted. The authors discuss the implications of these results for the field of gifted education. Putting the Research to Use: Those who provide training in gifted education need to reexamine the effectiveness of their training. We found that training in gifted education was not related to teachers' attitudes toward the gifted, although it was positively related to teachers' perceptions of themselves as gifted. It may be that training increases teachers' understanding of giftedness and the needs of gifted students but fails to build support for meeting those needs. Because one of the primary objectives of training is to increase attendees' attitudes toward gifted students, providers of gifted education training should consider assessing attendees before and after receiving training. Based on these assessments, trainers may need to modify their training strategies to improve participants' attitudes toward the gifted. Educators in gifted education should also forge alliances with colleagues in other fields, particularly those in the field of special education. We found that special educators were less supportive of gifted education and acceleration practices than mainstream teachers. Promoting collaboration between gifted education and special education may help to promote positive attitudes toward gifted education among special educators and general educators.

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

“…In a more recent study, McCoach and Siegle (2007) confirmed these mixed results that some teachers "harbor very positive attitudes, other teachers harbor extraordinarily negative attitudes" (p.253). In particular, special education teachers were found to have less support for gifted education and lower attitudes toward acceleration.…”

“…For instance, as mentioned above McCoach and Siegle (2007) discovered that gifted education training was only related to teachers' self-perception as gifted but not to their attitudes toward gifted education. 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.…”

“…Therefore, the theoretical framework for the current study draws on the attitude ambivalence paradigm, that teachers' attitudes toward gifted students and gifted education are not well established and understood (Cramond & Martin, 1987;McCoach & Siegle, 2007). For instance, Gagné (1983) suggested that teachers have positive attitudes toward gifted students, while others (Cramond & Martin, 1987, Collins, 2001) attested that teachers tend to have more negative attitudes toward gifted students and gifted programs.…”

“…Furthermore, several researchers have found that gifted education training has no impact on teachers' attitudes toward gifted students and gifted education (McCoach and Siegle, 2007;Plunkett, 2000;Smith and Chan, 1996). For instance, as mentioned above McCoach and Siegle (2007) discovered that gifted education training was only related to teachers' self-perception as gifted but not to their attitudes toward gifted education.…”

“…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).…”