EDUKACIJA STUDENATA ZA RAD SA DECOM DAROVITOM ZA LIKOVNO IZRAŽAVANjE

Abstract

On the basis of cooperation with preschool teachers and observation of their work, as well as of various research studies results, it can be concluded that preschool teachers are not competent enough to work with children gifted in art. Therefore, there is a need to develop preschool teachers’ competencies during their undergraduate studies. With the intention of enabling preservice preschool teachers to acquire the necessary competen- cies for working with children gifted in art, an experimental Educational Program for Stu- dents was designed. The program was carried out within the subjects belonging to the field of didactics of art education at the Faculty of Education in Jagodina, and was a part of a larger project aiming to support children gifted in arts. The research was conducted with the aim of exploring the potential and pedagogical effectiveness of the designed program. The research results have shown that the goal of the Program was successfully accomplished, i.e. that preservice preschool teachers developed their competencies in identifying and working with children gifted in art. It has been concluded that students were content with the Program, and that they gained enough competencies in working with children gifted in art. In conclusion, the proposed strategy is applicable as a way of educating preservice teach- ers in working with gifted children. In addition, the paper offers suggestions for enhancing pedagogical effectiveness of the project.