According to the education act, all pupils have the right to develop, based on their own ability and potential, which means that the teaching needs to be adapted and differentiated to suit all pupils. Studies show that gifted children often feel mentally bad in school, feel misunderstood and in some cases become misdiagnosed with various disabilities. The aim of this study is to deepen the knowledge about how teachers talk about giftedness and gifted children. The study is based on a social constructivist and sociocultural theoretical approach with qualitative focus group interview of teachers. With the help of hermeneutical analysis and a focus on the theory of social constructivism and sociocultural theory, this study shows that, among teachers, there is a great uncertainty about the concept of giftedness, both regarding what it means to be gifted and how these pupils can be noticed in school. / Alla elever har enligt skollagen rätt att utvecklas utifrån sin egen förmåga och potential, vilket innebär att undervisningen behöver anpassas och differentieras för att passa alla elever. Studier visar att särbegåvade elever ofta mår dåligt i skolan, känner sig missförstådda och i vissa fall blir feldiagnostiserade med olika funktionsnedsättningar. Syftet med denna studie är att fördjupa kunskapen om hur lärare samtalar kring särbegåvning och särbegåvade elever. Studien är gjord utifrån en socialkonstruktivistisk samt -sociokulturell teoretisk ansats med kvalitativ fokusgruppsintervju av lärare. Med hjälp av hermeneutisk analys och ett fokus på socialkonstruktivismens teoribildning samt sociokulturell teori visar denna studie att, det bland lärare, finns en stor osäkerhet kring begreppet särbegåvning, både gällande vad det innebär att vara särbegåvad samt hur dessa elever kan uppmärksammas i skolan.

This cognitive ethnographic study explored the mental processes that professional actors used when making artistic choices while engaged in creative practices to begin a conversation about how the theatrically gifted and talented population is viewed, researched, and educated in non-arts subjects. Professional actors at two sites were observed, videotaped, and interviewed over several rehearsals during play production. The major thematic findings indicated that artistic decision making results from actors engaging in a cyclical process of private work, affective validation, and collaboration. Implications for teaching theatrically gifted students call for classroom environments and processes that echo theatrical rehearsal structures, while engaging the imagination through personal connection and discovery.

This study analyzed the social and emotional wellbeing of International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IB DP) students in a North Texas school district. Students were asked about their feelings toward mental health through a short-answer questionnaire and a survey. Teachers were also able to give input about how they handle mental health in their classroom and where they would like to see their students grow in terms of understanding mental health. The data shows that while students in the IB DP have questions about mental health and have an interest in becoming more independent when dealing with their mental health, they have also come up with program-specific coping mechanisms such as relationships with teachers and peers in the program. This project suggests the idea of increasing student involvement with family engagement, a student-led mentor program, and an after school organization which covers topics such as mental health and learning skills.

Denna studie har som syfte att undersöka musiklärares definitioner gällande musikalitetsbegreppet. Studien undersöker också hur musiklärare resonerar kring sin egen, samt sina elevers musikalitet. Tidigare forskning presenteras i studien där musikalitet utifrån denna kan ses utifrån tre olika perspektiv: absolut, relativ och relationell musikalitetsuppfattning. Det sociokulturella perspektivet, med fokus på det kulturella sammanhangets betydelse för användning av begreppet musikalitet, är denna studies teoretiska utgångspunkt. Den forskningsmetod som valts för att undersöka ämnet är kvalitativa intervjuer, vilka fördes med sex musiklärare uppdelade i tre olika musikgenrer: klassisk musik, afroamerikansk musik och folkmusik. I resultatet framkommer det att musikalitet är ett svårdefinierat begrepp, det vill säga att det kan tolkas på många olika sätt. De definitioner som dock framkommer är att en musikalisk person har gott gehör och goda förmågor att kommunicera i samspel med andra musiker. Dessa förmågor kan både vara förvärvade redan från födseln eller vara utvecklingsbara. Musikalitetsbegreppet kan dessutom definieras som en företeelse som skiftar i värde beroende på i vilken situation och miljö det används i. Vad gäller resonemang gällande elevens musikalitet menar musiklärarna att det finns en osäkerhet kring att använda musikalitetsbegreppet i undervisningen. Lärarnas resonemang kring sin egen musikalitet är att de alla ser sig själva som musikaliska om de får utgå från sin egen definition av begreppet. Slutligen förs en diskussion kring de olika definitionerna på musikalitet som behandlas i resultatet utifrån det sociokulturella perspektivet och tidigare presenterad litteratur. / This study focuses on exploring how music teachers define the term musicality. The study also explores how music teachers discuss their own musicality and the musicality of their students. Previous research is presented in the study where musicality can be seen from three different perspectives: Definite-, relative- and relational perception of musicality. The sociocultural perspective, focusing on the meaning of the cultural context using the term musicality, is the theoretical premise of this study. The chosen research method to explore this subject is interviews, which were executed with six music teachers from three different music genres: classical music, improvised music and traditional folk music. The result shows that musicality is difficult to define, meaning that there are many different ways to interpret the concept. The definitions that do appear are that a person with musicality has advanced hearing and is able to communicate in interplay with other musicians. These abilities can be both acquired at birth or developed through life. The term musicality can also be defined as a phenomenon that changes in value depending on in what situation and environment it is used. In arguments about musicality in students the teachers find that they are hesitant about using the term in educational situations. Based on their own definition of the term the music teachers view themselves as musically talented. In conclusion a discussion is formed around the different definitions of musicality processed in the result using the sociocultural learning perspective and previously presented literature.

Technology has advanced greatly over the past few decades and the surge in the industry has impacted the workplace. As a result, K-12 education has worked to integrate 21st century skills into curriculum. Many times this is through STEM classes. This study examined the impact technology had on gifted and talented students’ achievement and creative construction. During a unit on Transformations, a control group received traditional instruction, while an experimental group received traditional instruction with an added technology component. A pre and posttest were given to both groups to measure student success with the geometry content. Results indicated that the technology component did not have a major impact on student achievement. Both the control and experimental group showed mastery of the standards and concepts. The technology component did increase students’ use of correct content vocabulary.

This thesis investigates and analyses the level of challenge for able students in an 11-18 Academy. It is addressed from my position as the Principal of the case study Academy and a novice researcher. Eight teachers who formed the Teaching and Learning group within the Academy participated in the study, as part of a community of practice with an interest in the issue addressed and the research process. The study focused on concerns arising from Learning Walks and Ofsted feedback about the perceived lack of challenge for able students. Using a three layer action research methodology, the views and practices of staff and students about challenge in ILTs (Independent Learning Tasks) were explored. An initial brainstorming activity was followed by questionnaires, lesson observations and focus group sessions with a sample of 100 students (Years 7, 9, 10 and 11). At the close of the first layer of research, data analysis revealed a range of levels of challenge in different subject areas, and from these a Year 10 Geography group was selected, with the support of the teacher. The second action research layer involved the Geography teacher and 15 Geography students who had identified a lack of challenge in their ILTs. This shifted the focus of the research to consider the cognitive challenge incorporated into tasks, focusing on thinking skills and questioning techniques. The third and final action research layer resulted in a newly developed, collaboratively-constructed ‘student friendly’ thinking skills analysis which provided powerful and formative insights to ‘label’ challenge. The teacher responded reflexively to the outcomes by trying out a redeveloped approach to ILTs (homework) and questioning techniques within the Academy. The findings from this investigation suggest that, cognitively challenging, problem-solving tasks, co-constructed with students to include opportunities for Socratic questioning provide for greater challenge in the classroom. Finally, the benefits to be gained from establishing a research community where the Principal is the lead researcher, include an increased emphasis on staff as change agents and the critical contribution of student voice in pursuit of challenging teaching and learning.

<p>Taking into account the rapidly changing of the environment nowadays and the necessity of being different between organizations, this paper tries to show how to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in companies, through talented people using talent management strategies.</p><p>Here is included all theoretical framework where we will explain our understanding of talent management, talented people and the creativity as a talent. This framework gives us the tools needed to be able to analyse a real talent management strategy.</p><p>During the analysis we will discover that a talent management strategy has to be fitted with the corporate strategy and with the corporate culture and also, that there are infinite ways to develop the talent management activities, it depends on the organization which develops it. For instance we are going to study two companies, Zerogrey and Google, which are very different between them but both of them have a talent management strategy.</p>

With a dwindling college-age population and a need to attract academically talented students, postsecondary institutions search for factors that influence college choice. The educational plans of two comparable groups of high ability Arizona secondary students were examined and compared using the Higher Education Orientation Inventory and personal interviews. One group of students consisted of high school juniors who participated in the University of Arizona Precollege Program for Gifted and Talented Students in the summers of 1981 and 1982. The Comparison Group students were selected from a group of the top ten percent of Arizona high school juniors from those same years. Factor analysis was utilized to answer major research questions about factors that affect a student's choice of a higher education institution. To examine the differences between the two groups, discriminant analysis was used. An open-ended question approach provided supplementary data from both groups. The majority of both groups of students favored the choice of a four-year university. It was found that students who participated in the University of Arizona Precollege Program rated that experience as more important in their institutional choice than did those students who did not attend this program. In a separate factor analysis, it was shown that the two groups appeared to differ on several choice factors. Only one pair of factors entitled "Academic Quality of the Institution" was found to be similar within the groups. Other important factors for both groups included "Social Components of the Institution", "Expenses and Financial Aid", and "Institutional Image". The largest discriminant difference between the two groups was with reference to the institution's precollege program. This supported the finding that there was a significant mean difference on which students rated the importance of a precollege program in institutional selection. The open-ended question approach indicated that important reasons for postsecondary choices were (1) location, reputation and size of the institution, (2) cost, and (3) program quality. Personal interviews emphasized the value of a precollege program in providing an introduction to college life and in building confidence about the forthcoming postsecondary experience.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the methods and techniques that are utilized by some teachers in the identification of a gifted student. This study has a threefold purpose. The first is to discuss the plight of some of our valuable human resources as manifested by the gifted in the American educational structure. The second is to present and contrast the current approaches to conserving these resources. The third is to project some possible trends in meeting the needs of the gifted segment in American schools. This study concludes that the field of teaching the gifted has been exploited by educators, and that there is very little likelihood in replacing the suggested methods and techniques entirely by new ones. Though there is little chance to replace all the suggested methods and techniques, there is sufficient room for expansion and internal renovations in the American educational mode of arrnagement.

The problem of this study was to develop a set of workable guidelines that could be implemented in the development of an industrial arts program for the superior high school student.