4.1.5 The Character Education of Gifted and Talented Children

This doctoral study aims to investigate how teachers who work with gifted and talented children evaluate character education, and how they interpret and implement the legislation of values education for gifted and talented children in Turkey. Based on my data, the aim is to design a need-based intervention based on the character education approach of Aristotle. The aim is to support the holistic development of gifted and talented children by considering their social and emotional development. This research is founded on both the qualitative and quantitative paradigm within the critical realist approach. This approach will provide access to a reality independent of teachers’ observations and experiences, and most importantly, the intervention will be grounded on stratified social ontology and causality, rather than multiple meanings, which change from individual to individual. The aim of this approach is to increase the feasibility of character education for gifted and talented children. In this study, firstly, document analysis was used to examine legislation- about the education of gifted and talented children and values education in Turkey. Secondly, focus-group interviews were used with teachers who work in the BILSEMs (the Science and Art Centers) in Turkey. These are independent special educational institutions that have been opened to enable preschool, primary, secondary and high school gifted and talented students (painting, music, and general mental ability) to become aware of their individual abilities and develop and maximize their capacities, so as not to interfere with their formal training. Focus group data from ten different BILSEMs in different geographical regions of Turkey will be presented as the main aspect of this paper. In addition, values education is an essential part of the education system of Turkey and is included in the legislation of the BILSEMs. Thematic analysis was used in the analysis of the focus group interviews. Thirdly, a survey was prepared according to the analysis of the focus group interviews for use with the other teachers not involved in the focus group interview in the BILSEMs. The surveys will be analysed using SPSS. Finally, a need-based intervention will be designed by combining the analysis of these methods. In addition, a case study will be carried out in one of the BILSEMs, for a week, to improve the efficacy of the intervention. This is a unique study in this context in Turkey.

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