Preservice Special Education Teachers Perceptions of Giftedness


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Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10298234

Keywords:

Special Education, Pre-Service Teachers, Gifted, Perception

Abstract

The purpose of thist study was to detect pre-service special education teachers’ perceptions of giftedness by asking them to report characteristics of these students. Eight pre-service special education teachers who were attending one of the biggest universities in the Southeast of the United States voluntarily participated in this study. An open-ended questionnaire delivered to eight pre-service teachers and a follow up interview were made with two of the participants. Pre-service teachers’ responses to open-ended questionnaire and interview questions were analyzed by using Grounded Theory. By using inductive method, four themes were created about characteristics of gifted students: academic, cognitive, social/interpersonal, and barriers for gifted identification. Findings of this study indicated that pre-service teachers who were identified as gifted during their school life and pre-service teachers who had credentials in education of gifted students reported similar characteristics for gifted students. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested to increase the number of courses about gifted education and scholarships for gifted students in teaching programs to better identify potential gifted students.

References

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Published

2023-12-25

How to Cite

Erdimez, O. (2023). Preservice Special Education Teachers Perceptions of Giftedness. Atlas Journal, 9(52), 83–94. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10298234

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Section

Articles