Finnish Teachers' Conceptions of Giftedness

• In Event: 26.080 - Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: 26.080-17 - Conceptions of Giftedness

Abstract

The paper presents the results of two independent studies in which Finnish teachers’ conceptions of giftedness were examined. The main aim was to study whether giftedness is seen as a developing or fixed quality. The first study examined qualitatively teachers’ (N=212) conceptions via inductive oriented content analysis. The second study (quantitative) measured conceptions (N=463) with Dweck’s instrument. The results show that in general teachers mostly have a growth mindset (Study 2), but when teachers define giftedness, development aspect is not present in their definitions (Study 1). Thus, it is addressed that teacher education programs are in need of developing methods in order to provide teachers’ more knowledge about giftedness and the developmental nature of it.

Authors

• Sonja Laine, University of Helsinki

• Elina Kuusisto, University of Helsinki

• Kirsi A. Tirri, University of Helsinki