Paper Summary:

This paper examines how research shows that teachers' attitudes toward, and understanding of, gifted students play a pivotal role in turning gifts into talent. It looks at how although earlier research found that most Australian teachers shared the wider community belief that gifted students would succeed with little assistance, more recent studies reveal that there is widespread cause for concern because of the ignorance and negativity that exists in both pre-service and in-service teachers attitudes right across Australia.

Outline:
Bad Teacher Year = Underachiever
The Most Disadvantaged of Special Needs Groups
Smart Kids Will Work it Out For Themselves
Change Your Attitude
Conclusions

From the Paper:

"Whilst many agree that the recognition and nurturing of gifted students should fall to teachers (Braggett 1994; Collins 2001; Clark 2002 cited in Lassig 2003; Gross MacLeod, Drummond and Merrick 2001), alarmingly, research reveals both preservice and inservice teachers prefer "average" students over gifted ones (Carrington and Bailey 2000; Lassig 2003). This though contradicts teachers' claims, in some studies (Gallagher 2007), that their motivation to teach was the pleasure of teaching students who want to learn. With such disparity, gifted students may experience "bad teacher years" which contribute to underachievement (Lewis and Milton 2005; Davis and Rimm 1998; Gross 2001a; Whitmore 1980)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Abelman, R. (2007). Fighting the war on indecency: mediating TV, internet, and videogame usage among achieving and underachieving gifted children. Roeper Review. 1 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-157195627.html
• Bain, S. K., Bliss, S. L., Choate, S. M., Sager Brown, K. (2007). Serving children who are gifted: perceptions of undergraduates planning to become teachers. Journal for the Education of the Gifted; Summer 2007; 30, 4; Academic Research Library Pg. 450.
• Bain, S. K., Choate, S. M., & Bliss, S. L. (2006). Perceptions of developmental, social, and emotional issues in giftedness: Are they realistic? Roeper Review , 29 (1), 41-48.Carnellor, Y. (2003). The impact of teacher attitudes on the development of young, gifted children. Gifted, 129 12-16.
• Carrington, Neil G. and Bailey, Stan B., (2000). How do preservice teachers view gifted students?: evidence from a NSW study [online]. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, v.9, no.1, June 2000: 18-22.
• Chaffey, Dr G. (2004). Gifted and Talented Education. Professional Development Package for Teachers.Early Childhood. Module 4. Department of Education, Science and Training. GERRIC, University of New South Wales, Sydney

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