In the context of this chapter, the term gifted teacher preparation references both incidental (the gifted teacher background referenced above) and institutional preparation and/or training (university, graduate, and state or school district required coursework and supervision) that preceded the individual teacher’s serving as a “gifted teacher.” The choice to highlight incidental training, as we do in this chapter, is to point out that most of the people now serve in the schools as Gifted Teachers were trained by people who did not receive specific institutional training in gifted education or in how to be a gifted teacher.
Published in Chapter:
Pathways to Supporting the Gifted: Four Educators' Personal Journeys
Deborah L. Ruf (Educational Options, USA), Stephen J. Schroeder-Davis (College of Saint Scholastica, USA), Jane E. Hesslein (Seattle Country Day School, USA), and William D. Keilty (Advocate, USA)
Copyright: © 2019
|Pages: 18
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-5879-8.ch014
Abstract
This chapter is comprised of the written recollections of four intellectually gifted adults, all of whom became teachers. None had any idea they would ultimately focus on gifted students. Because there is no significant research about who becomes a teacher of gifted students, the purpose of this chapter is to illustrate some of the precursors, critical events, and catalysts that may lead to becoming an educator and advocate for gifted children. The authors each in turn describe the influences of family and others significant to their own talent development and how their exposure to different social and cultural conditions impacted their views. The vignettes provide firsthand information about what motivated these teachers, both internally and externally, and what personal traits contributed to the ways they have advanced the field. All discovered their own giftedness while educating themselves on the needs of gifted students.