Gifted and talented education reforms: Effects on teachers' attitudes

Do classroom teachers have one of the most significant influences on the learning, achievement and development of gifted students (Clark, 2002)? If so, submissions to the Australian Senate Committee’s 2001 report, “The Education of Gifted Children”, are a cause for concern, with reports of widespread negative attitudes towards giftedness, and an observation by Watters and Diezmann that “a degree of apathy and opposition to gifted education exists within the [teaching] profession” (as cited in Collins, 2001, p. 29). This presentation reports findings from a study of gifted education focus schools, as well as schools without formal gifted education programs. Attitudes of teachers towards gifted children and their education were explored as discriminators along with factors in teachers’ demographic profiles and pedagogy. Possible implications for changes in teacher training and for improved practice in gifted education are also outlined