Evaluation of the work with talented students

One of the most important roles of education and schooling is, inter alia, care of gifted students and guidance and development of their potential. Gifted students are the ones that society expects most of. Innate gifts depend on high intelectual abilities as well as on abilities, which can solve problems and acomplish tasks better and faster than gifted students' peers. Innate gifts are complex, developmentally dynamic and contextual phenomena which are the result of interactive actions of biological, psychological, pedagogical and psycho-social factors and introduce at large exceptional human potential or achievement (Juriševic, 2012). By introducing nine-grade primary school in Slovenia it has become mandatory to work with gifted students. The nomination, gift identification and work with gifted students are statutory whereas implementation and embeding of the programme remains each school's autonomy. The adoption of the concept work with gifted children in 1999 identifies fundamental principles of working with gifted children and suggests forms of gift support, resulting from models of best practises from those schools which had offered programmes for gifted students before its law enforcement. After the law inforcement a number of various issues arose. With the help of organized training for headteachers, school advisors and teachers, the schools were able to execute the programmes for gifted students. This master's thesis represents the gifted students support from theoretical and empirical point of view. The theoretical part comprises the definition of aptitude (gift), historical overview and the concept of work in nine-grade primary school as well as the results of the research of the gift support in Europe. The empirical part discloses the point of view of headteachers on work organization with gifted students and issues that had arisen in the process of law enforcement. Headteachers answered the questions on implementing the concept of Nominating and work with gifted children according to the school size, its geographical position and headteachers' own profesional field. We wanted to establish whether the work with gifted children is a priority defined in the school year plan, what their opinion on the procedure of monitoring and working with the gifted children is, and the parents affinity for work with gifted children in schools. The answers of headteachers included in the research show that work with gifted children runs according to the guidelines suggested by the concept of Nominating and work with gifted students. The issues mainly arise when it has to be embeded in the timetable, in finding financial resources and in paying the teachers involved in the process. Other issues are adequate teacher qualification to work with the gifted students and the burden of the gifted students with various competitions and extra curricular activities. School subjects are not equally represented, most commonly science is exposed. In the last part of the thesis various suggestions to improve the concept of work with gifted children are included. Many changes adhere to executors and teachers in schools. We also suggest some solutions pointed directly to work with gifted children and teachers involved as well as some system changes in terms of organizig camps under the wing of governement organizations and introduction of a new subject with contents regarding work with gifted children into undergraduate pedagogical studies