Competencies for a Classroom Teacher to Support Gifted Students in the Regular Classroom: A Qualitative Research

İbrahim Akar

doi:10.24106/kefdergi.813339

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to research and reveal the competencies for classroom teachers to support gifted students in the regular classrooms. In order to achieve this main purpose, researcher conducted a case study and an action research of the qualitative research design, respectively. Participants of the study were five classroom teachers, their gifted students, parents of the gifted, school administrators and other classroom and elementary school teachers. Unstructured interviews, observations, focus group interviews, documents and products used to collect data during the case study and action research phases. Approximately 44 hours of interviews, 70 course hours of observations and 311 documents and/or products collected during case study and action research processes. Content analysis and descriptive analysis were run to analyze the data. Calculated inter-coder reliability coefficient for content analysis was found to be .78. Overall analysis revealed thirty-four competencies under eight different competency areas on four different stages. Findings were discussed with regard to related literature and recommendations for practitioners and for further research were presented.

Highlights

A limited number of educational opportunities are being offered within the framework of national education options for gifted students
Highlights: Gaining the competencies, revealed in this research study, to classroom teachers who will support gifted students with inclusion practices in regular classrooms by discovering and developing students' different talents is of critical importance in terms of meeting the educational needs of gifted students in regular education environments
What are the competencies for a classroom teacher to support gifted students in the regular classroom?

Summary

Introduction

A limited number of educational opportunities are being offered within the framework of national education options for gifted students For these students, the failure to carry out programs specific-to-specific talent areas may cause serious priority problems for gifted students to reveal and develop their existing potentials. It is expected that gifted students, whose special needs can be ignored by teachers even though it should be considered within the scope of special education, will benefit from individualization and inclusion practices. These practices, in the context of developing and supporting their potentials, need to be implemented in formal education institutions where gifted students enrolled and continue their education. To adopt the comprehension to maintain the process of gifted student’s inclusion in education by working planned and programmed

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Discussion

Conclusion