Nowadays, gifted education varies considerably from country to country. On one hand, there are countries with elaborated special gifted programmes, and on the other hand there are countries, which are not even recognising terms such as giftedness and gifted children. Most countries provide support of the gifted children with the help of various organizations. Apart of the system of schooling of the gifted, also organizations supporting the gifted children are mapped. Very often there is a view, even among educationalists, that gifted education is elitist and that gifted children would do just fine without any intervention. These are myths which when believed can inhibit the opportunity to maximise the potential of gifted children. Gifted children require special attention, otherwise their talents can be lost without noticing. This article is a part of greater holistic research on gifted education and it particularly discusses different ways the gifted children are educated in several countries in Europe.

Mutual understanding and intercultural competences are very important in the today's global world, because they allow us to overcome prejudice, discrimination and misunderstandings between people of different cultural backgrounds. Intercultural communicative competences (ICC) in English language education permit learners to understand and communicate successfully with representatives of the target language cultures. Acquiring ICC is a complex matter, which involves a new approach not found in traditional language lessons. Additionally teachers find it difficult to identify themselves with and apply intercultural aspects of the target language. Even though, all the curricular documents emphasise importance of development of ICC for learners, the recommendations are mostly only general and do not provide specific guidance for teachers. Consequently, teachers are often confused and the question of content, materials and techniques often arises. Also ICC next to grammar or vocabulary are less tangible and more difficult to comprehend, but on the other hand ICC are very much needed for real life usage. Traditional classrooms provide systematic presentation and acquisition of knowledge and skills under the guidance of a teacher, but offer very little chance to develop skills for interaction in real world scenarios. The aim of acquiring intercultural communicative competences is prepare learners to act appropriately and successfully in real life situations in a foreign language. This paper gives brief guidance to teachers on how to manage developing ICC in English language lessons. Several techniques (comparison method, cultural assimilation, cultural capsule, drama, TPR, cultural island, reformulation, noticing, treasure hunt, prediction, role plays, research, songs, games, portfolio, field trip) are suggested, with examples of how to deal with various aspects of intercultural communicative competences.

Scholars, psychologists, and teachers from around the world have been dealing with the topic of giftedness for many years. Also in Slovakia, development of giftedness is a highly topical issue and gifted education has earned its place in the current curricular documents issued by the Ministry of Education. The national curriculum specifies education objectives, teaching plans, requirements for personnel, organizational and materialtechnological requirements for gifted education. However, the personnel requirements are problematic not only in Slovakia, but also in other countries. Most attention is paid to identification and development of gifted children, but very little consideration is given to the training of teachers for gifted children. The lack of justifying teacher training does not guarantee sustainability of gifted education. The aim of this paper is to map and describe gifted education, teacher training programs and qualifications for teachers of intellectually gifted pupils in Slovakia, Austria, Belgium and Finland. These countries were chosen because of very different perceptions of the gifted education and teacher training. These systems are compared and a proposal for sustainable teacher training is offered.

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Education of the gifted individuals dates back to the ancient times, when gifted people were recognized and special education was required for them. But it was not until the 20 th century that special and intensive attention was paid to education of the gifted children. Researchers in the United States of America were the pioneers of gifted education and even today, the most research is carried out in the USA. Despite the considerable attention and history of gifted education, the US system receives a lot of criticism. This article maps the history and development of gifted education in the USA and the today's system. Apart of the US system of gifted education, also Canada, Equator and Mexico are mapped.