published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

In recent years, empirical research has consistently supported an association between susceptibility to affective illness and creativity at the level of eminent achievement and at the non-eminent, or "everyday creativity" level. Although this research has provided greater evidence for the existence of this link, it has simultaneously unearthed more questions about how and why such an association exists. The purpose of this research was twofold: first, to provide further analysis of the nature of the relationship between hypomanic traits and creativity by employing a longitudinal study to determine the extent to which inter-individual differences over time in creativity are predicted by hypomanic traits. Second, the purpose of the cross-sectional analysis in the present study was to further determine how developmental components such as age and expertise may help unravel the ways in which hypomanic traits contribute to creativity and to further describe inter-individual differences among these variables. The first hypothesis, which proposed that the direction of the relationship between hypomanic traits and creativity could be predicted, was not supported by these results. The second research hypothesis was partially supported: hypomanic traits predict creativity in the combined adolescent and older adult samples. However, upon further examination of the regression analyses, the data indicate that the relationship between hypomanic traits and creativity is also influenced by age and developmental factors. Furthermore, the way in which the relationship is influenced by these other factors depends on the way in which the creativity construct is measured (e.g., process or personality. The findings suggest that the antecedents of creativity may differ between adolescents and older adults. In adolescents, the hypomanic traits measure is the only variable that predicts creative personality and creative process, while expertise is the only variable to predict creative personality and creative process among the older adults in this study. It appears expertise significantly and uniquely contributes to at least two areas of creativity in older adults, while hypomanic traits significantly and uniquely contributes to the same two areas of creativity in adolescents. Implications of these findings and limitations to this study are discussed.

The study aims to describe variation in the expression of students’ mathematical ability and the various ways in which their mathematical aptitude is acknowledged and supported by their teachers, parents and peers in a Swedish context. Ability is defined as a complex of various abilities each of which may be more or less pronounced in a given individual. The study is based on ten case studies of highly able students (ages 6-19). Six of the studies are longitudinal, ranging from three to six years. In order to validate the results of the case studies, two survey studies were carried out involving 180 teachers (preschool to Grade 9 in Swedish compulsory school) and 284 mathematics developers from 229 Swedish municipalities. The survey studies raised questions concerning the teachers’ personal experience of identifying and supporting highly able students, the nature of their everyday teaching, and the support given to able students. The results show that mathematical abilities can take many different forms and there is great need for pedagogical support for this group of students. Since extra resources are rarely available for the benefit of nurturing talent and since there are, as yet, no Swedish national or local policy documents that specifically address the support of talent in students, teachers are on their own in figuring out how to best help able students develop mathematically. The study points to the importance of the social norms that influence the interaction between teacher and student(s): everyday social norms as well as socio-mathematical norms, i.e. norms specific to the subject of mathematics. The latter place considerable demands on the teachers’ mathematical knowledge and competence. The benefits of early interventions, of supportive teaching environments, and of providing the students with challenging tasks and questions are also discussed.

This study examined the extent to which teachers’ levels of cultural competence is a factor in the nomination/referral process for gifted identification of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Specifically, this study compared the self-assessed perceptions of second and third grade elementary teachers’ cultural competence to the various factors included in the gifted referral process. A quasi-experimental quantitative study was used. However, this study superficially included some qualitative exploration due to the nature of the open-ended survey questions and secondary data set analysis. Quantitative data were collected via an adapted version of the Cultural Competence Self-Assessment for Teachers survey created by Lindsey, Robins, & Terrell (2009). Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, independent samples t-test, and correlation analysis were conducted. Results revealed that there were no significantly statistical differences in the relationship between teachers’ levels of cultural competence and nomination/referral patterns for gifted identification. Yet, the results also indicated that the district’s second and third grade teachers were generally high on the cultural competence continuum. An overwhelming majority of the teachers believed themselves to be culturally competent however, cultural competence sub-scale scores in institutionalizing cultural knowledge and interacting with CLD students were lower percentages when compared to the other sub-scale scores. In general, this study may have important practical implications for the ongoing process of becoming culturally competent, gifted education practices and policy, teacher preparation, and professional practice.

A great deal is known and has been written about the difficulties that high IQ children can experience in the classroom when their special educational needs are not met. Evidence suggests that these difficulties can result in poor academic performance. This study is different from the research carried out in this field so far in that it expresses an hitherto unheard adult voice. It does so by examining the causes and the long-term effects of academic underachievement, as perceived by high IQ adults, on reflection. A mixed quantitative/qualitative methodological approach was used. 158 members of British Mensa, the High IQ Society, completed one semi-structured open ended questionnaire about their perceptions of the causes and long-term effects of their academic underachievement. A second questionnaire was completed by 50 of the previous sample who had revealed that they had reversed their underachievement in adulthood. This highlighted the differences between their educational experiences as children and as adults. It also revealed the impact that their delayed academic achievement had had on their life trajectory. Out of those 50 participants, ten took part in semi-structured one-to-one interviews which allowed for more in-depth enquiry. The conclusions of the study were that, if not nurtured, an innate ability such as a high IQ can become a disadvantage over time. It suggests that not catering for the special educational needs of high IQ children by not providing the mental stimulation they need is 'intellectual neglect'. Such neglect, like physical and emotional neglect, may affect mental well-being in adulthood. In the study sample, most of the participants' long-term economic and mental health had been negatively affected by their academic underachievement, even when it had been reversed in adulthood. This is an area which seems to have been little researched so far, perhaps because of the difficulty of locating high IQ underachieving adults. Yet, the issues highlighted by the research are of great importance not only to the individuals concerned but also to society. The desired outcomes of this study are that the dissemination of the results will raise awareness amongst educators and policy makers of the potential negative long-term effects of neglecting high IQ children's intellectual needs. It will also provide a platform for further research.

Key words: gift, talent, education of gifted children, teaching methods and forms of working oganization This graduation theses is focused on gifted children and their signs. The theoretical part contains legislature relevant to educating of gifted children in the Czech Republic and various options of the optimalisation of educating process for gifted pupils. It also focus on different methods of recognising gifted children, educating them in school, options of educating and its problems, it deals with the formes of organisation of the teaching methods and basic approaches to educating of gifted pupils. The experimental part of this work is divided into two parts. The first one shows the pupils' oppinion about education, who visit the school for gifted children, the second one contents interview with teachers and examples of the good work with educating children.

My thesis is focused on gifted students of primary school. The work is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part consists of several chapters which describe the talent, the identification of gifted students, methods and forms of work in education and gifted pupils in regular primary school classroom. Furthermore, I mainly deal with the education of gifted children, individual approach to these children in education, support for families and schools. In the practical part, on the basis of qualitative research I propose a model of instructional strategies for specific gifted pupil, which should help to natural and accelerated development.

The diploma thesis deals with the learning styles in a connection with the teaching strategies, especially their use by the gifted pupils from the fifth year of the primary school. The theoretical part describes the concepts of learning style and learning strategies from the several authors' point of view of, but it also deals with the characteristic features of a talented pupil in the younger school age. The theoretical part prepares the reader to understand the empirical part, which is crucial for the diploma thesis. The subject of the study is a group of eight gifted pupils from the fifth grade of the primary school who are attending an educational program for the exceptionally gifted pupils. The aim of the empirical part is to analyze pupils' own preference of the learning strategies and to map their situation. Thanks to the methods of the research such as the interviews, an observation, methods for developing the learning strategies and a questionnaire research, the goal of the qualitative empirical work has been fully achieved. After a month of work with the gifted pupils and their classmates, I have found that their own choice of the learning strategies is greatly influenced by the inner motivation, an in-depth learning style, a strategic learning style, and overall approach to the learning...

This diploma thesis deals with intellectually talented individuals and from the narrower point of view, gifted pupils in the subject of Czech language at the second level of elementary school. In the theoretical part, the author deals with the talents, definitions and concepts of this issue, existing models from various authors, characteristics of gifted children, approaches of Czech schools to the education of these children and extra-curricular possibilities for the development of their talent. This thesis also deals with linguistic intelligence and personality of the teacher. The main objective is to give a realistic picture of how teachers of the Czech language view gifted pupils and what differences they find between gifted individuals and ordinary students. Furthermore, the author of the thesis searches for the differences between the capabilities of pupils gifted at the Czech language and other pupils in fulfilling the assigned tasks. Last but not least, what is the point of view on education of the pupils themselves. In the practical part, using the structured interview method, information and opinions from teachers of talented pupils and pupils themselves to the teaching of the Czech language are collected. In addition to that, on the basis of the theoretical data gathered, practical tasks...