Identifying “Good” Teachers for Gifted Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the unique features that gifted students perceive to be essential in their teachers. In this qualitative, one-year study, data and responses from 15 gifted students in a high school in an Arab village in northern Israel were gathered from interviews, students' personal diaries, and "letters of recommendation" that they were asked to write. The findings revealed that gifted students defined a good teacher through three major categories: 1) qualities in teachers; 2) excellent teaching; and 3) the unique qualities of the individual student-teacher relationship. Teachers of gifted students should ideally have unique personal, intellectual, and didactic characteristics and a unique attitude that empowers their students to realize their potential. Students place more importance on the inherent personality of the teacher than on acquired teaching skills. The findings point to a need for assessment of teachers for both personality and professional qualifications before they are assigned to the gifted classroom, and for special courses to train teachers of gifted students.

Different Voices on Emotional Intelligence Skills of the Good Teacher: Teachers, Students and Parents

“…Many empirical studies consent that the leading emotional and social qualities of successful teachers include: having emotional strength, vitality (or willingness) and thoughtfulness (or friendly behaviors) (Khalil & Accariya, 2016;Tengku Ariffin et al, 2018); to accurately handle inappropriate student behavior, create and manage a stimulating competitive environment and maintain a focused group work (Koç, 2013;Luckner & Pianta, 2011); to be good listeners, explain things clearly in the class and help students learn a lot (Khalil & Accariya, 2016;Tengku Ariffin et al, 2018;Wragg & Wood, 1984); to be able to motivate the students (e.g., by giving them more control over the learning process, or by using positive feedback and praise) (Burnett, 2002;Luckner & Pianta, 2011;Schweinle, Meyer & Turner, 2006); to exhibit emotional and social skills and personality traits such as to be sensitive, concerned, attentive, understanding, encouraging, and supportive (Khalil & Accariya, 2016;Tengku Ariffin et al, 2018); to be brave, honest, and affectionate, to demonstrate self-respect, self-awareness, individual responsibility, imagination, improvisation skills (Khalil & Accariya, 2016;Tengku Ariffin et al, 2018); to be understanding, fun and loving (Thomas & Montgomery, 1998).…”

“…Moreover, it was found that students expect Good Teachers to be warm and patient, kind-hearted and modest, take a personal interest in their students (Koç, 2013), give the students opportunities to speak and take initiative, be open to criticism from their students, involve their students in activities, and invest effort to communicate with the students" parents (Khalil & Accariya, 2016). Another characteristic of a Good Teacher that students have mentioned is leadership ability, which aids the teacher in arousing students" curiosity, presenting them with challenges and sparking in them the desire to expand their knowledge.…”

“…Another characteristic of a Good Teacher that students have mentioned is leadership ability, which aids the teacher in arousing students" curiosity, presenting them with challenges and sparking in them the desire to expand their knowledge. Such personality traits enable the development of a personal relationship between students and teachers in which teachers are transformed into mentors, a term coined by ancient Greeks, who strive to stabilize the identity, worldview, and life values of their student (Khalil & Accariya, 2016).…”

Promoting creative thinking for gifted students in undergraduate mathematics

“…Gifted students can be defined as group of students who possess extraordinary potential in one or more domains of human abilities including intelligence, creativity, social and mentality relative to the top ten percent of members of the same age group (Gagné, http://journals.ums.ac.id/index.php/jramathedu 1985). Alternatively, gifted students are those students who can score in the top 1.5 percentile for their ages based on a unique, higher-quality cognitive and emotional perspectives as well as intelligence and creativity (Khalil & Accariya, 2016). In other words, they tend to be cognitively and affectively more advanced (Plunkett & Kronborg, 2011).…”

“…Moreover, teachers must also have the academic skills in subjects, which allow maximum efficacy in teaching and learning (Milgram, 1979). In addition, it was recommended that teachers should have the following: 1) the proper identification of what they know or do not know, 2) the explanation in a way that motivates and challenges them, 3) providing the constructive feedback and giving them the opportunity to adapt themselves to the teaching techniques and methods, and 4) cultivating motivation and selfesteem in them (Khalil & Accariya, 2016). As a result, teaching in gifted education is neither straightforward nor easy (Troxclair, 2013).…”