4.5.11 A Portrayal of Inspirational Teachers for Gifted and Highly Able Students: A Grounded Theory Study

This doctoral study about teachers who inspire gifted and highly able students aimed to understand student perspectives of what makes a teacher inspiring. Thrash and Elliot (2003) established that “we are inspired when a mentor or role model reveals new possibilities that we would not have recognised on our own” (p. 871). Constructivist grounded theory was used as the research design, using constant comparison throughout the process (Charmaz, 2014). This paper presents the resultant theory having students’ voice as the basis. Participants were 91 gifted/highly able students from Years 9-11 from selective programs for gifted/highly able students in three secondary schools in Victoria, Australia, in 2017. Participating students completed an online survey nominating inspiring teachers, explaining the nominations through five open-ended questions. Sixty-six teachers were nominated, 13 of whom received the highest number of nominations, and 11 subsequently participated in an interview, and observation of their teaching. Teachers’ main areas of knowledge were Mathematics, English, History/Geography, Biology and Economics Three interrelated categories emerged: “Being a knowledgeable and passionate teacher”, “Creating an academically safe learning environment”, and “Teaching beyond and above the expected curriculum”. These categories revealed how these teachers identified as inspiring worked with their gifted/highly able students, by demonstrating a deep knowledge and expertise of the content, by being passionate about what they teach and when they teach. Teachers demonstrated a positive attitude towards giftedness, developing a safe learning environment, where students felt respected, engaged, and where educational assistance was provided. These teachers helped their students to discover new opportunities through expanding the required content, challenging them, and addressing students’ educational needs. The theoretical construct that emerged was identified as “Opening new possibilities: teachers who inspire gifted and highly able students”. This core process offers an explanation on how teacher participants interact with their students by expanding their understanding about the subject, fostering positive attitudes towards the domain, by encouraging students’ actions, and inspiring them to make decisions about their future. Three contextual determinants were identified: school culture, gifted educational provisions and the curriculum. These findings provide an ideal starting point for the development of further research into understanding inspiring teachers for gifted/highly able students, the development of adequate professional learning, and strategies to implement within the classroom.

Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory (2nd ed.). London: SAGE. Thrash, T., & Elliot, A. (2003). Inspiration as a psychological construct. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 871-889. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.871

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