Much of the literature on First Nations education is written by Euro- Canadians. However, in recent years, American Indian scholars have initiated research on gifted and talented First Nations children. The purpose of this paper is to present eminent Shuswap womens' perspectives of traditional ways gifted and talented girls were identified and nurtured over their lifetime. Seven eminent Shuswap Elder women from the Interior of British Columbia, whose gifts and talents were identified and nurtured form the nucleus of the study. Because Shuswap people traditionally have an oral culture very little was written of the Shuswap peoples' experiences, therefore, interviewing was deemed the most appropriate research technique. Through the Elder's own words, the experiences of the identification and nurturance of their gifts and talents in the four phases of life (childhood, adolescence, adult, Elder) are presented. The Elders were selected to represent various time periods and several different bands of the Shuswap Nation. All of them have been recognized for their service to the people locally, provincially, or nationally. The most outstanding feature which is revealed by this study is the extent to which the Elders struggled to stay on the path paved for them throughout their lives since their grandparents identified their gifts and talents. Their struggles may be viewed the same way First Nation people continue their fight for their aboriginal rights. The need to continue the work of preserving, recording, perpetuating and enhancing the Shuswap language, history and culture is shown here. Implications for further qualitative research are numerous. From specific aspects of culture such as the Shuswap concept of giftedness and the traditional ways Shuswap people identified and nurtured boys to more general comparisons of finding a national First Nations concept of giftedness or trying to determine how band-operated school are trying to identify and nurture their gifted and talented students, there are many possibilities. What has emerged is strong individuals and cultural group healing, adapting and surviving very well despite the dark ages. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation is associated to the doctoral program in Education from the Graduation Program in Education from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) and belongs to the Research Line LP3 Special Education. The relevance and need of this study proposal lies on the fact that there are no studies on high abilities/gifted (HA/G) directed to the identification of elderly people and also in the lack of theoretical contributions that support this discussion. The objective of this study was to identify HA/G in elderly scholars inserted in the undergraduate program of the Federal University of Santa Maria, located in Rio Grande do Sul (RS) in order for them to be able to recognize themselves with indicators and characteristics of HA/G) and receive educational service consistent with their needs. Thus, it was developed a tool that allowed the identification of HA/G in elderly scholars in order to facilitate their insertion the social and academic environment. This qualitative research is characterized as a case study. The participants of this investigation were eight scholars that were more than 60 years old, who entered UFSM through vestibular for attending mode , and that are nowadays regular students of the institution in the graduation courses. Following a theoretical framework that serves as basis for the study and the data collected, categories of analysis were selected based on the premises of Content Analysis (BARDIN, 2011). Among the instruments that were part of this study, there is the individual questionnaire used to identify the indicators of HA/G in Elderly People (QIIAHSDI), adapted from Pérez (2008), that went through a process of validation previous to its application, a Personal Information Form (PIF) used in order to obtain personal, family, work, and leisure activities information, and also a semi-structures interview. Many of the common indicators found in the studies carried out with adults cited by Pérez (2008) and Delpretto (2009) were noticed in the elderly participants, such as curiosity, creativity, leadership, persistence, high sense of humor, autonomy, and preference for challenges. The identification of elderly people will favor adequate educational alternatives and recognition of their behaviors and potentialities, since it is a necessity to identify them, favoring their understanding according to their personal, intelectual, and emotional characteristics linked to HA/G. / Esta tese está vinculada ao curso de doutorado em Educação do Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) e faz parte da Linha de Pesquisa LP3 Educação Especial. A relevância e a necessidade desta proposta de estudo estão no fato de não existirem estudos referentes às Altas Habilidades/Superdotação (AH/SD) direcionados à identificação de pessoas idosas e na escassez de aportes teóricos que subsidiem essa discussão. Este estudo teve como objetivo a identificação de AH/SD em acadêmicos idosos inseridos no ensino superior da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, localizada no Rio Grande do Sul (RS), no intuito de que estes possam se reconhecer com indicadores e características de AH/SD e receber um atendimento educacional condizente com as suas necessidades. Dessa forma, foi desenvolvido um instrumento que possibilitou a identificação das AH/SD em acadêmicos idosos para facilitar a sua inserção no âmbito acadêmico e social. Esta pesquisa, de cunho qualitativo, caracteriza-se como estudo de caso. Os sujeitos participantes desta investigação foram oito acadêmicos com mais de 60 anos, os quais tiveram como forma de ingresso na UFSM o concurso do vestibular para a modalidade presencial, e que, atualmente, são alunos regulares da instituição nos cursos de graduação. Partindo do embasamento teórico que estrutura o estudo e dos dados coletados, foram elencadas categorias para a realização da análise, partindo dos pressupostos da Análise do Conteúdo (BARDIN, 2011). Dentre os instrumentos que fizeram parte deste estudo, está o questionário individual para identificação de indicadores de AH/SD em Idosos (QIIAHSDI), adaptado de Pérez (2008), que passou por um processo de validação para posterior aplicação, uma Ficha de Informações Pessoais no intuito de obter informações pessoais, familiares, laborais e sobre as atividades de lazer, e uma entrevista semiestruturada. Muitos dos indicadores comuns encontrados nos estudos realizados com pessoas adultas citados por Pérez (2008) e Delpretto (2009) foram visualizados nos sujeitos idosos, como a curiosidade, a criatividade, a liderança, a persistência, o senso de humor elevado, a autonomia e a preferência por desafios. A identificação do público idoso favorecerá alternativas educativas adequadas e reconhecimento de seus comportamentos e potencialidades, pois é uma necessidade identificá-los, favorecendo o seu entendimento de acordo com as suas características pessoais, intelectuais e emocionais relacionadas às AH/SD.

The VSB/UBC Transition Program is a Ministry of Education Provincial Resource Program for highly academically gifted young adolescents. Unique to British Columbia and Canada since its inception in 1993, the two-year program is currently housed on the UBC campus and affiliated with University Hill Secondary School. Despite an extraordinary range of hurdles - which are fully discussed and analyzed in this study - the eventual establishment of an early entrance to university program is seen as a remarkable accomplishment of educational leadership and organizational learning involving institutional partnerships, flexible governance and a shared commitment to academically gifted young people. The study examined the complexities of implementing a unique educational innovation for academically highly gifted young students in a university setting and in a provincial context which has not traditionally favored support for the highly gifted. The study had two phases. An historical narrative traced the development of this innovation and described how the current program model evolved in response to student needs. Documentary evidence based on original documents and interviews with program developers, implementers, and participants provided a multi-faceted perspective of the program's complex history and highlighted factors contributing to program success for students, as well as problems encountered along the way. Building upon this narrative, the second phase surveyed and then analyzed the views and expectations of students, parents, and staff as well as program planners at different stages of the program. These various perspectives were used to advance an understanding of how and why this unique program developed as it did, and how its participants variously responded to a wide range of expectations and needs to arrive at the current delivery model. The study concludes with a discussion of critical issues and documents the strengths and unmet needs of academically gifted students that have emerged over the course of the program's development. It culminates by providing an understanding of key elements related to program success for gifted youth together with recommendations for future program development and a broader array of programs and services for academically gifted students in secondary schools and post-secondary institutions in BC. The study ends by encouraging more support for educational innovations that respond to the developmentally unique needs of all students, and a commitment to on-going short term as well as longitudinal research on the Transition Program and its graduates. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

The concepts of well-being and life satisfaction are explored in this study of the experiences and psychological traits of highly-gifted students who have been radically accelerated into an early-college-entrance program. The study was conducted after participation in the early-college-entrance program. The primary focus of the study is on personal well-being and life satisfaction including the variables of subjective well-being, efficacy, and the dispositional traits of cheerfulness, seriousness, and bad mood. These variables are gathered as the initial phase of a longitudinal study of the early-college entrants' personal and professional experiences, their life satisfaction, and dispositions. The subjects for this study were participants in the Texas Academy of Math and Science (TAMS). TAMS is a state run early-college-entrance program at the University of North Texas in Denton.

This study explored how various intrapersonal, familial, and life-goal characteristics related to the academic and personal success of first semester early college entrants attending the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS) at the University of North Texas. The study sought to identify which intrapersonal factors and external factors affected grades, behavioral markers, and life satisfaction during the students' first semester at TAMS. Baseline data from TAMS entrance material such as standardized achievement test scores, previous grade point averages (GPA's), advanced courses taken, and other academic activities and awards were collected. Data were also collected from the students prior to their entry to the start of TAMS related to family cohesiveness, motivation, and career goals. Data from parents were gathered prior to the start of TAMS regarding parenting styles, demographics, parents' educational levels, careers, and income levels, as well as the child's homework, extracurricular activities, and other time demands. First semester grades, a measure of life satisfaction since the program began, and behavior reports from staff members were used as outcome/success indicators. These additional data were used to examine the relationship between success and familial/interpersonal/life goal factors.

Syftet med studien är att synliggöra hur sex kommuners handlingsplaner för särskilt begåvade elever framskrivs för att identifiera, bemöta, stimulera, utmana och inkludera särskilt begåvade elever i matematikundervisningen. Målet är att svara på om och i så fall hur särskilt begåvade elever identifieras, bemöts, stimuleras, utmanas och inkluderas utifrån handlingsplanerna och hur lärare och speciallärare använder handlingsplanerna för att få särskilt begåvade elever inkluderade. Inkluderingen ses ur tre olika perspektiv; innehållsinkludering, deltagande inkludering och dynamisk inkludering. Sex handlingsplaner från kommuner i olika storlekar befolkningsmässigt och geografiskt spridda i landet valdes ut och kvalitativ textanalys användes som metod för att analysera och kategorisera innehållet i handlingsplanerna. Det gjordes kvalitativa intervjuer där en öppen fråga ställdes till fyra speciallärare. I handlingsplanerna framkommer att det kan vara svårt att identifiera särskilt begåvade elever eftersom den särskilda begåvningen kan visa sig på olika sätt. Samtliga handlingsplaner refererar till Skolverkets stödmaterial om särskilt begåvade elever i hur man bemöter, stimulerar och utmanar dessa elever. I tolkningen som görs av handlingsplanerna utifrån ett  inkluderingsperspektiv ses att alla handlingsplaner tar upp dynamisk inkludering där organisationen ligger i fokus. Enligt tolkningen av speciallärarnas svar på hur elever inkluderas i undervisningen används de  tre olika inkluderingsperspektiv hos tre av fyra speciallärare. Varje elev är unik och man måste se till varje enskild elevs behov. Differentierad undervisning genom acceleration och berikning, stimulerande aktiviteter utanför skolan samt elevens delaktighet och samtal med eleven,  lyfts i både handlingsplanerna och intervjuerna som framgångsfaktorer.

Orientador: Vera Lucia Messias Fialho Capellini / Resumo: Os estudantes com altas habilidades/superdotação apresentam capacidade intelectual acima da média, grande comprometimento com as tarefas e altos níveis de criatividade. Por conta de suas características, necessitam de programas diferenciados de ensino e aprendizagem e, as atividades de enriquecimento curricular são uma das alternativas educacionais previstas para esses estudantes. Pretendeu-se na presente pesquisa investigar as contribuições das atividades de enriquecimento curricular no desenvolvimento cognitivo, escolar e social de estudantes identificados com altas habilidades/superdotação. Levantou-se a hipótese de que, se essas atividades forem bem estruturadas e organizadas de acordo com os interesses e aptidões dos estudantes, serão capazes de favorecer seu desenvolvimento cognitivo, acadêmico e social. Para testá-la, a pesquisa foi dividida em três estudos. O Estudo 1 buscou descrever as atividades de enriquecimento curricular vivenciadas por estudantes identificados com altas habilidades/superdotação em um projeto de extensão e, também, a percepção dos estudantes, pais e professores sobre elas. Para isso, foram elaborados questionários e protocolos que foram respondidos pelos estudantes, seus pais e professores, a respeito das atividades vivenciadas por eles, após a identificação. O Estudo 2 descreveu e comparou o desempenho cognitivo e acadêmico desses estudantes, antes e depois de frequentarem por pelo menos um ano, atividades de enriquecimento curricular. Utilizou... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Students with giftedness have above average intellectual capacity, great commitment to tasks and high levels of creativity. Because of their characteristics, they need differentiated teaching and learning programs, and curriculum enrichment activities are one of the educational alternatives foreseen for these students. The aim of this research was to investigate the contributions of curriculum enrichment activities to the cognitive, school and social development of students identified with giftedness. The hypothesis was raised that, if these activities are well structured and organized according to the interests and aptitudes of students, they will be able to favor their cognitive, academic and social development. To test it, the research was divided into three studies. Study 1 sought to describe the curriculum enrichment activities experienced by students identified with giftedness in an extension project and the perception of students, parents and teachers about them. To this end, questionnaires and protocols were prepared and answered by students, their parents and teachers, regarding the activities they experienced, after identification. Study 2 described and compared the cognitive and academic performance of these students, before and after attending curriculum enrichment activities for at least one year. Raven's Progressive Color Matrix Test, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WISC-IV) and the School Performance Test (TDE) were used. Study 3 sought to describe and compare... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Detta examensarbete är en explorativ fallstudie som utgår från intervjuer med fyra naturvetenskapligt högpresterande gymnasieelever. Eleverna uppvisar ”särskild begåvning” enligt en definition av Bruhner (2018b). Syftet med arbetet är att ge förslag på hur framtida forskning om särskilt begåvade elever kan tänkas fortlöpa, för att fördjupa kunskapen kring hur särskilt begåvade elever samspelar med andra elever, i klassrumssammanhang där stora skillnader i motivation och prestation föreligger. Uppsatsen begränsar sig till att undersöka matematisk-logisk intelligens. Intervjuerna tar upp vad eleverna själva tycker är ”bra” undervisning i naturvetenskapliga ämnen genom att lyssna till berättelser då de tyckt att skolan har undervisat dem väl, men undersöker även vissa karaktärsdrag hos eleverna som är av betydelse för inom vilka områden framtida forskning, om hur särskilt begåvade elever bäst bör undervisas, hade kunnat tänkas fokuseras. / This thesis is an explorative case-study that emanates from interviews with four Swedish secondary education students, highly proficient in the natural sciences. The students are ”gifted” according to a definition from Bruhner (2018b). The aim of the study is to give suggestions on how future research in the field of such gifted students could proceed, in order to deepen our knowledge of how such gifted students interact in classroom situations where there are big differences in motivation and performance. The study is limited to investigate mathematical-logicical intelligence. The interviews are centered around what the students themselves think is ”good” education, by listening to the students’ testimonies of in which situations they believe that the educational system has been capable of educating them, but it also explores certain traits found in these students, that are important to take into account, in order to establish in which areas future research on teaching gifted students best can be focused.

<div>Scholars in the field of gifted education have identified that summer enrichment programs can have academic and socioemotional benefits for adolescents with gifts and talents. Although some studies have pointed to the intercultural benefits of such programs, few have focused directly on the intercultural benefits multicultural enrichment programs can provide.</div><div>This mixed-methods study had three purposes: (1) to identify and adapt an instrument capable of measuring cultural responsiveness in adolescents with gifts and talents, (2) to examine if adolescents with gifts and talents change in cultural responsiveness over the course of a multicultural, residential summer enrichment program, and (3) to explore effective pedagogical strategies for teaching multicultural groups of adolescents with gifts and talents.</div><div>The Miville-Guzman Universality Scale-Short (Fuertes et al., 2000) was selected as the instrument of focus. The instrument was piloted, and the data analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis. Cognitive interviews with participants were also used to revise the items. A combination of canonical function analysis and qualitative responses were used to analyze participants’ (n=308) growth in cultural responsiveness over the course of the summer enrichment program. Finally, interviews with teachers and open-response answers from students were used to find the most effective pedagogical strategies for educating multicultural students.</div><div>Findings include a revised M-GUDS-S instrument for adolescents with gifts and talents (AM-GUDS-S), evidence that multicultural enrichment programs can have a positive effect on student intercultural relations with profiles for how those relations develop over a two-week period, and a series of pedagogical strategies that can be used by educators to facilitate learning for groups of domestically, internationally, and linguistically diverse students.</div>

This thesis focuses on the role of a teacher in the educational process of gifted children. The main objective of the thesis is to examine teachers' attitudes toward gifted children and the ways in which these attitudes impact the development of potential and educational motivation in gifted children. The theoretical part of the thesis discusses the issues of gifted children. Next, the thesis focuses on the teacher's profession and describes factors through which teachers can influence the education of gifted, particularly teachers' attitudes toward gifted and communication and interaction styles between teachers and gifted children. The empirical part of the thesis involves a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with teachers of gifted children, as well as with gifted children themselves, focused on the perceived influence of teachers on the education and motivation of gifted children. The findings of the qualitative analysis bring insights into the teachers' influence on the educational process of gifted students, as perceived from both the perspectives of teachers and gifted children.