Values of Gifted Specialists as a Professional Identity

Educators of gifted students (gifted specialists) face unique systematic and personal barriers daily. While programs for gifted students are mandated in most states, including Georgia, implementation choices such as identification processes, delivery models, and teacher training requirements often f...

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Main Authors: Bailey Nafziger, Seth Kaesler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Georgia Southern University 2024-01-01
Series:Georgia Educational Researcher
Subjects:
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gerjournal/vol21/iss1/3/
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author Bailey Nafziger
Seth Kaesler
author_facet Bailey Nafziger
Seth Kaesler
author_sort Bailey Nafziger
collection DOAJ
description Educators of gifted students (gifted specialists) face unique systematic and personal barriers daily. While programs for gifted students are mandated in most states, including Georgia, implementation choices such as identification processes, delivery models, and teacher training requirements often fall on local agencies and budgets. Gifted specialists must have a strong sense of agency to advocate for their students and programs. This study contrasts the values, beliefs, and attitudes of middle-level teachers who have taught in an honors program and gifted specialists with a gifted teacher endorsement or certificate. The two expert groups were established to contrast how teachers who self-identify as gifted specialists compare to teachers with no formal training in the field but who have taught classrooms of primarily gifted students. Qualitative values-coding was used to identify unique perspectives gifted specialists held. Two major themes emerged: (1) the perception of who is responsible for gifted student success and (2) whether gifted students have heterogeneous or homogeneous needs. The authors propose using the values, beliefs, and attitudes as a professional identity model to enhance the agency and retainment of gifted specialists.
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spelling doaj-art-a84bcf5fd0fa4992a13cdd099e5303322025-01-24T17:51:45ZengGeorgia Southern UniversityGeorgia Educational Researcher2471-00592024-01-0121110.20429/ger.2024.210103Values of Gifted Specialists as a Professional IdentityBailey NafzigerSeth KaeslerEducators of gifted students (gifted specialists) face unique systematic and personal barriers daily. While programs for gifted students are mandated in most states, including Georgia, implementation choices such as identification processes, delivery models, and teacher training requirements often fall on local agencies and budgets. Gifted specialists must have a strong sense of agency to advocate for their students and programs. This study contrasts the values, beliefs, and attitudes of middle-level teachers who have taught in an honors program and gifted specialists with a gifted teacher endorsement or certificate. The two expert groups were established to contrast how teachers who self-identify as gifted specialists compare to teachers with no formal training in the field but who have taught classrooms of primarily gifted students. Qualitative values-coding was used to identify unique perspectives gifted specialists held. Two major themes emerged: (1) the perception of who is responsible for gifted student success and (2) whether gifted students have heterogeneous or homogeneous needs. The authors propose using the values, beliefs, and attitudes as a professional identity model to enhance the agency and retainment of gifted specialists.https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gerjournal/vol21/iss1/3/giftedgifted specialiststeacher identityagencyprofessional learning
spellingShingle Bailey Nafziger
Seth Kaesler
Values of Gifted Specialists as a Professional Identity
Georgia Educational Researcher
gifted
gifted specialists
teacher identity
agency
professional learning
title Values of Gifted Specialists as a Professional Identity
title_full Values of Gifted Specialists as a Professional Identity
title_fullStr Values of Gifted Specialists as a Professional Identity
title_full_unstemmed Values of Gifted Specialists as a Professional Identity
title_short Values of Gifted Specialists as a Professional Identity
title_sort values of gifted specialists as a professional identity
topic gifted
gifted specialists
teacher identity
agency
professional learning
url https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gerjournal/vol21/iss1/3/
work_keys_str_mv AT baileynafziger valuesofgiftedspecialistsasaprofessionalidentity
AT sethkaesler valuesofgiftedspecialistsasaprofessionalidentity