(1440) RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATORS' PROFESSIONAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD GIFTED EDUCATION

摘要

The study investigated the relationship between educators' demographic and professionalcharacteristics and their attitudes toward gifted education. The variables examined in relation toattitudes toward gifted education were gender, highest educational degree earned, capacity in whichthe educator serves (teacher, guidance counselor, administrator, etc.), the grade span within whichthe educator serves (preschool, grades 1 through 3, etc.), type of school employed (public or private),years of experience as an educator, years of experience as an educator in small locations like villagesor towns, and years of experience as an educator in locations larger than towns. Data were collectedfrom 421 educators of preschool through university who were employed in various schools oreducational institutions in Istanbul, Turkey during the 2011-2012 school year. The Educators' Attitudestoward Gifted Education Scale, which was originally developed by the authors, was used to collectdata on the attitudes. The scale included 15 items, which were on a five-point Likert scale, rangingfrom 'strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree'. The scale, shown to be valid and reliable in a journal articlealready published, measured the following four factors: 1) Degree to which educators perceived giftedstudents as a national treasure 2) Degree to which educators perceived gifted education as an elitistpractice 3) Degree to which educators believed that gifted students had different academic needs, and4) Degree to which educators believed that gifted students had different social/emotionalcharacteristics and needs. Each factor was measured as the average of scores from the itemsmeasuring that factor. To examine the aforementioned relationships, independent samples t-test,paired-samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance, or correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient)was used. One finding was that the educators believed more in gifted students' differential academicneeds than in their differential social/emotional needs. Another interesting finding was public schooleducators' more positive attitudes toward gifted students and gifted education than those of privateschool educators. The level of their perception of gifted students as a national treasure was higher,and the level of their perception of gifted education as an elitist practice was lower. A third finding wasthat male educators' perception of gifted students as a national treasure was higher than that offemale educators. Further exploration of this finding revealed that administrators' perception of giftedstudents as a national treasure was higher than that of elementary school homeroom teachers(although not statistically significant). The two statements above were found to be interesting in light ofthe fact that 17 out of 20 administrators in the study were male, while 95 out of 138 homeroomteachers were female. All of the findings above were interpreted within the global context as well aswithin the context of education in today's Istanbul. Recommendations were also made about teacherpreparation and in-service teacher training as they are related to educators' attitudes toward giftedstudents and gifted education.