Interactions between High-School Science Teachers and the Gifted Students in a Regular Classroom

Leading team

Dr. Ron Blonder

Postdocs and students

Naama Benny

Summary

Teachers and students first meet at the beginning of the school year, each with his or her own personality and beliefs, and from the moment that they enter the classroom, they begin interacting with one another. Gifted students have many characteristics that differentiate them from other students in a regular classroom. Gifted students should have access to learning opportunities that are faster paced and more complex than what is usually available in a regular classroom with students having mixed abilities. Gifted students should continually use their high abilities in order to keep developing their academic skills. In this study we identify and characterize interactions between gifted students and high-school chemistry teachers in a regular class. The study provides a rich description of the interactions and their patterns. This research uses a unique qualitative technique, Critical Incidents Technique (CIT). The Critical Incidents (CI) that were collected occurred between a chemistry teacher and the gifted students in a mixed abilities chemistry classroom. The CIs provide insight into the teacher's world and the way they perceived their teaching ability of the gifted student in their class. This rich description can be used in order to make recommendations of enhancing teacher's professional development.

Related articles of Ron Blonder's Group

http://www.weizmann.ac.il/weizsites/blonder/publications/