The terms used in gifted and talented education in Turkey, relevant legal framework and educational practices

Abstract

Giftedness/talentedness is one of the areas that is not fully defined yet, and its meaning and scope are highly debated in parallel with the concept of intelligence. Discussions about how giftedness/ talentedness can be conceptualized, identified, supported and predicted are still ongoing. The concept of giftedness/talentedness and the initial studies on the education of talented and gifted pupils seem to extend to Plato. In this study, firstly the definitions of leading names in the field about giftedness were examined and then field-specific terms were tried to be described. Many documents especially The Constitution of Turkish Republic, laws, decree laws, by laws, circulars and the Convention on the Rights of the Child have been examined in relation to the topic. In terms of the practices in the field of education, the Ottoman Empire period was briefly reviewed and information about the practices in Turkey was given. As a result, despite all the work mentioned, it has been found that there are various problems in the education of gifted and talented children and in supporting their skills. In order to solve the problems experienced by talented and gifted children in Turkey, it is necessary to develop a government policy regarding the education of talented and gifted children.