Attitudes of preservice teachers towards gifted and talented students

Neil Carrington, University of New England

Abstract

This study obtained new empirical evidence on preservice teacher attitudes towards gifted students and identified some possible influences on these attitudes. Preservice teacher attitudes towards two types of school student, one gifted and the other average, were compared. In addition, an examination was made as to whether attitudes to each type of student were affected by ability characteristics or by certain other personal attributes, namely academic effort in school and gender. Taking into account this three way interaction of ability, gender and effort and by also considering the gender of the preservice teachers, the university they attended and their year of study, a series of four way analyses of variance was carried out to quantify the significance of results. 1,470 preservice teachers were surveyed. This group was made up of 942 primary preservice teachers and 528 secondary preservice teachers from the University of New England, Charles Sturt University, the University of Newcastle, the University of New South Wales and the University of Wollongong. Based on the findings of this study it is suggested that those concerned with the educational climate in schools should note that the results of this study challenge some of the popular notions about the valuing of application to study. Those who believe that preservice teachers would prefer the studious student will find little evidence to support such a point of view. Those who feel students who are gifted would be held in high esteem by our future educators may need to re examine their thinking, as will those who believe that gender itself plays a large part in determining how students are viewed. This study draws the conclusion that being gifted and striving towards academic success at school do not appear to elicit the support one would imagine from our future classroom teachers. The findings of this study must be considered by policy makers if the educational needs of children are to be met and all students are to have the opportunity to realise their full potential.