Teachers' Expectations of Gifted Students' Behavior

• In Event: Teacher and Gifted Student Perceptions and Experiences

Abstract

Current educational research does not adequately examine the concurrence of problematic and gifted behaviors. In this study, a thematic analysis (TA) approach was used to explore elementary teachers’ perceptions of high potential students who have demonstrated improved behaviors, based on data from interviews with 24 teachers. This study may enhance understanding about teachers’ expectations of gifted students and influence research and professional learning about how teachers perceive and respond to gifted students’ problematic behaviors. The research questions that guide this study are as follows: (1) How do teachers describe problematic behaviors demonstrated by gifted students? and (2) How do teachers describe gifted students whose problematic behaviors have subsided?

Authors

• Rachael Ann Cody, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Catherine A. Little, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Kelly L. Kearney, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author