Attitudes of Primary School Teachers toward Gifted Students/Stavovi učitelja primarnog obrazovanja prema darovitim učenicima

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine attitudes of primary school teachers toward gifted students and toward some approaches to their education – acceleration and ability grouping, as well as their relationship to the expressed interest and perceived knowledge of specific topics concerning giftedness. We distinguish between different possible occasions for knowledge acquisition: during the studies, at teachers’ professional conferences and in the course of individual professional improvement. A total of 209 primary school teachers of the Brod-Posavina county participated in the study. The respondents' attitudes were assessed using the Gagné and Nadeau attitude survey (1991) about gifted students and gifted education. The results show that teachers generally have a neutral attitude toward the gifted, meaning that teachers recognize the needs, support and social value of the gifted, but lack a clearly defined attitude toward special provisions for the gifted and toward the consequences special support of the gifted might have. The study revealed differences in attitudes toward the gifted, interest and level of awareness of giftedness with regard to the years of teaching experience, education level and workplace. Hierarchical regression analyses proved interest and individual professional improvement in topics concerning giftedness to be significant predictors of attitudes toward the needs, support and value of the gifted. The opinion about elitism of gifted education is significantly predicted by the place of work and interest. Keywords: attitudes; gifted education; gifted students; primary school teachers Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati stavove učitelja primarnog obrazovanja prema darovitim učenicima i nekim pristupima njihova obrazovanja, kao -akceleracija i grupiranje prema sposobnostima, te njihov odnos sa iskazanim interesom i informiranosti o određenim temama iz područja darovitosti tijekom studija, stručnih skupova i individualnog usavršavanja. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 209 učitelja razredne nastave Brodsko-posavske županije. Stavovi učitelja su procijenjeni pomoću Gagné i Nadeau upitnika (1991) o darovitim učenicima i njihova obrazovanja. Rezultati pokazuju da učitelji općenito imaju neutralan stav prema darovitima, odnosno da učitelji prepoznaju potrebe, podršku i društvenu vrijednost darovitih no nemaju jasno izražen stav prema pristupima rada s darovitima kao ni prema posljedicama posebne potpore darovitih. Utvrđene su razlike u stavovima prema darovitima, interesu i informiranosti o području darovitosti s obzirom na godine radnog staža, stupnja obrazovanja i mjesto rada. Hijerarhijskim regresijskim analizama utvrđeno je da su značajni prediktori stava o potrebama podršci i vrijednosti darovitih zainteresiranost i individualno usavršavanje o temama iz područja darovitosti. Stav o elitizmu darovitih značajno predviđaju mjesto rada i zainteresiranost. Ključne riječi: stavovi; obrazovanje darovitih; daroviti učenici;učitelji primarnog obrazovanja