3.6.7 Preparing Teachers to Respond Effectively to Gifted Students in Classrooms: Longitudinal Case Study Results

This presentation outlines the most recent analysis of findings from a longitudinal case study conducted over a sevenyear time frame (2008-2014) with almost 600 pre-service teachers (PSTs) who completed an elective unit in gifted education at a major Australian university across both metropolitan and regional campuses. Most teachers in Australia enter the profession without having completed any dedicated undergraduate studies pertaining to gifted education, yet many go on to teach gifted students in either mainstream or specialised educational settings. The literature suggests that specific education relating to giftedness is necessary to enhance attitudes and practices that are conducive to appropriate provisioning for gifted students (Fraser-Seeto, 2013; Geake & Gross, 2008; Lassig, 2009; Kronborg & Meyland, 2002; Plunkett, 2000; Troxclair, 2013). The specific education described in this presentation was an undergraduate elective unit which sought to prepare PSTs for teaching gifted students through immersion in evidence based literature and practices from the field of gifted education. The unit provided a framework for students to understand giftedness and the practices associated with gifted education from a theoretical perspective, and through the assessment tasks to provide opportunities for both critically reflective appraisal and practical application of new understandings. A specific focus was the development of differentiated curricula suitable for engaging students of all ability levels and gifted students in particular. Through pre and post testing using a validated survey instrument entitled Opinions about the Gifted and their Education (Gagne & Nadeau, 1985), participants were able to record their attitudes and beliefs in relation to giftedness and gifted education both prior to beginning the unit and then again on completion of the unit. Participants also submitted written reflections on their survey results, providing a large quantity of qualitative data to add depth to the quantitative data from the surveys. Pre-service teachers who participated in this project reported a significant growth in awareness of the challenges associated with giftedness, and were genuinely surprised at their limited understandings of the needs of gifted students at the start of their course. Respondents particularly highlighted the value of an informed understanding about the challenges associated with teaching gifted students, with the vast majority strongly recommending gifted education as a compulsory part of all teacher education programs. This presentation will highlight the areas where attitudes underwent significant change, and outline some of the benefits and challenges associated with confronting the complexities of gifted education at the pre-service level.

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