Attitudes of 1,200 Educators toward the Education of the Gifted and Talented: Implications for Teacher Preparation

Rubenzer, Ronald L.; Twaite, James A.

doi:10.1177/016235327900200403

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…In the case of gifted children, their genetic predispositions might include shaping their educational environments to favor their precocious learning needs (Geake, 1997b). Here, the results add to those previously that demonstrate the efficacy of CPD environments for improving teachers' attitudes toward their gifted charges (Buttery, 1978;Copenhaver & McIntyre, 1992;Gross, 1994Gross, , 1997Rubenzer & Twaite, 1981).…”

Section: Importance Of Professional Educationsupporting

confidence: 83%

Teachers' Negative Affect Toward Academically Gifted Students

Geake

Gross

2008

Gifted Child Quarterly

141

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A frequent reason for teachers not making special provisions for a gifted child is that the child is “not fitting in socially.” The conjecture that a psychological source of such negative affect has evolved along with human language was tested with a large sample ( N = 377) of teachers in England, Scotland, and Australia who were undertaking continuing professional development (CPD) in gifted education. Quantitative indicators of teachers' subconscious feelings toward gifted children were measured using a five-dimensional semantic differential instrument. Oblique factor analysis produced a three-factor structure, namely, general characteristics of gifted children including high cognitive abilities, social misfits, and antisocial leaders. Teachers' negative affect toward gifted children concerns the potential use of high intelligence toward social noncompliance. The factor scores for teachers completing the CPD programs were lower for the social noncompliance factors and higher for the general factor compared with scores of teachers commencing the programs. Putting the Research to Use: The results of this research can be used by designers and presenters of teacher professional development (PD) programs in gifted education to address implicit negative attitudes of teachers toward gifted students. The major cause of such negative affect is a deep concern about potential antisocial applications of the intelligence of gifted students, and this should be made explicit to PD participants. The results show that teachers' unconscious negative attitudes can be reduced through PD courses in which teachers become more familiar with the characteristics of gifted students and their learning needs. In future PD programs, teachers could be asked to reflect on their personal responses to questions based on this research: Are gifted students potential social misfits? Are gifted students disrespectful of authority? Are gifted students sensitive to the feelings of others? Could gifted students use their intelligence for antisocial leadership? Would gifted students make good schoolteachers?

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Section: Importance Of Professional Educationsupporting

confidence: 83%

Teachers' Negative Affect Toward Academically Gifted Students

Geake

Gross

2008

Gifted Child Quarterly

141

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“…In addition, teachers' level of experience with giftedness seems to be related to their nomination decisions: According to Gear (1978), teachers who received training in giftedness were more effective than teachers without training in giftedness (i.e., from their classes, trained teachers identified more students as gifted who were also identified as gifted by an intelligence test), but the two groups were similarly efficient (i.e., from the students who were identified as gifted by teachers with or without training, the percentage of students who were also identified as gifted by an intelligence test was equal). Rubenzer and Twaite (1979) reported that teachers with training in the area of giftedness identified more students as gifted than teachers without training. Likewise, Bianco and Leech (2010) used vignettes to describe potentially gifted students who either had or did not have a disability.…”

Section: Teachers' Nominations Of Gifted Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring reference group effects on teachers’ nominations of gifted students.

Rothenbusch

Zettler

Voss

et al. 2016

Journal of Educational Psychology

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Teachers are often asked to nominate students for enrichment programs for gifted children, and studies have repeatedly indicated that students' intelligence is related to their likelihood of being nominated as gifted. However, it is unknown whether class-average levels of intelligence influence teachers' nominations as suggested by theory-and corresponding empirical results-concerning reference group effects. Herein, it was hypothesized that when students' individual fluid and crystallized intelligence scores were similar, students from classes with higher average levels of intelligence would have a lower probability of being nominated for an enrichment program for gifted children than students from classes with lower average levels of intelligence. Furthermore, we investigated whether 3 teacher variablesexperience with giftedness, beliefs about the changeability of intelligence, and the belief that giftedness is holistic or domain specific-would influence the expected reference group effect. In a study comprising data from 105 teachers and 1,468 of their (German) third-grade students, we found support not only for a positive association between students' individual intelligence scores and the probability that students would be nominated as gifted but also, more importantly, for the proposed reference group effect: When controlling for individual levels of intelligence, students' probability of being nominated was higher in classes with lower average levels of intelligence. In addition, the results showed that this reference group effect was stronger when teachers saw giftedness as holistic rather than domain specific. Also, depending on teachers' kinds of experience with giftedness, the reference group effect varied in size.

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“…In a study of more than 1,000 public school teachers, Rubenzer and Twaite (1979) found several teacher characteristics that resulted in higher identification rates of gifted students. Teachers with 6 or more years of teaching experience were significantly more likely to identify a gifted student in their classroom than those with fewer years of teaching experience.…”

Section: The Role Of Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

Stereotypes of Giftedness in Current and Future Educators

Carman

2011

Journal for the Education of the Gifted

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This article is a mixed-methods exploration of the levels of stereotypic views about gifted individuals held by current and future educators. Because educators are often asked to provide recommendations for participation in gifted programs, it is important to determine whether those recommendations are based, in part, on stereotypic thinking. Stereotypic views held by educators could bias the selection of participants for gifted programs, preventing students from receiving appropriate gifted educational services. Participants were volunteer undergraduate (n = 91) and graduate (n = 20) education majors. Qualitative and quantitative data analyses were conducted to determine both the levels of stereotypic thinking within each group as well as differences in levels of stereotypic thinking between groups. Results suggest both preservice and in-service teachers hold stereotypical thoughts about the gifted in multiple areas.

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Attitudes of 1,200 Educators toward the Education of the Gifted and Talented: Implications for Teacher Preparation

Cited by 18 publications

References 6 publications

Teachers' Negative Affect Toward Academically Gifted Students

Teachers' Negative Affect Toward Academically Gifted Students

Exploring reference group effects on teachers’ nominations of gifted students.

Stereotypes of Giftedness in Current and Future Educators

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