Elementary teachers’ knowledge, attitude, and professional development needs concerning gifted students and their educational needs in the Netherlands

Abstract

The present study aimed to update the state of knowledge and attitudes of teachers concerning gifted students and their educational needs in theNetherlands. Additionally, this study aimed to gain insights into teachers’ professional development (PD) needs regarding giftedness, taking teachers’ knowledge and attitudes concerning this topic into account. Aquestionnaire was filled out by 116 teachers from thirteen elementary schools in the Netherlands. Teachers seemed to have little knowledgeabout how to identify and support gifted students. Their overall attitude was positive, however, teachers held negative or ambivalent attitudestowards ability grouping and acceleration. All teachers were interested in receiving PD, although teachers who had the most knowledge and most positive attitude were most interested. Teachers reported the most need for PD activities that do not require too much time and take place at their workplace. However, teachers’ knowledge and attitude related positively to PD activities that require a greater time investment. The findings of the present study underline the importance of PD for teachers concerning giftedness. Future research is needed to effectively design and incorporate PD activities for teachers which meet their knowledge,attitudes, and PD needs. This eventually contributes to better education for gifted students.