Exceptional Children

In addition to the children who show typical development, there are also children who show atypical development. Individuals whose development varies compared to their peers and whose differences are identified by experts are called individuals with special needs. Individuals with special needs can be children with intellectual disabilities, sight, hearing impairment, language and speech disorders, physical disability and chronic illness, specific learning difficulties, children with autism spectrum disorder and gifted children. The causes of special needs are generally prenatal causes, which can often be hereditary and can be classified as natal and postnatal. The identification of individuals with special needs from early ages and the use of appropriate intervention methods are vital for these children. Children who are happy and a future producing part of society due to early recognition and accurate education methods are directly related to the quality of the intervention performed.

Evaluating Gifted Programs

Program evaluation is one of the few areas in gifted education that considers the coherence among gifted education program components across the K-12 spectrum. It increases the visibility of the gifted program while acknowledging the fluidity of change in a given context and engages individuals in influencing the nature and degree of changes that can occur within their system. Two key questions in the gifted field are: To what degree do these programs make a difference in the lives of gifted children? How do we know they are working? Program evaluation is a solid and necessary step in answering these questions. Program evaluation is necessary to drive gifted program improvement. This chapter provides the rationale and literature review on gifted program evaluation as well as research-based protocols for facilitating gifted program evaluations and the commensurate processes for ensuring quality, transparency, and comprehensiveness.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN PREPARING FUTURE TEACHERS TO WORK WITH GIFTED CHILDREN

The article substantiates the importance of organizing special training of future specialists of psychological and pedagogical profile to work with gifted children. It is emphasized that such children belong to the modern «Alpha generation», whose personal development from the first years of life takes place in the digital space, as well as that the use of information and communication technologies is an important factor in the successful organization of distance learning in higher education in solving the problem of forming innovative, creative, competent teachers of gifted children in particular. It was found out that the communication potential and interactivity of ICT provides the subjects of the educational process opportunities for creative communication, exchange of information, cooperation in performing common tasks, increase interest, deepen knowledge about the phenomenon of giftedness and development of non-cognitive qualities needed for future educators with gifted children. The methodical features of conducting lectures-visualizations on pedagogical disciplines with the use of electronic presentations aimed at forming in future educators components of readiness to work with gifted children are presented. The importance of electronic educational resources in expanding students' knowledge about various aspects of working with gifted children is shown. The experience of creating a virtual teacher's site «Teaching creatively» is presented, in which it is integrated the capabilities of online services in accordance with the didactic purpose, taking into account the age and individual characteristics of gifted children. The teacher's virtual website «Teaching creatively» has a clear structure, its creation involves the use of online services that allow you to design interactive tasks, provide feedback, record educational videos and conduct research. The main conclusion of the study is that the use of information and communication technologies, electronic educational resources in terms of distance / blended learning significantly improves the quality of training of future teachers to work with gifted children.

Preparing teachers for interaction with gifted students

In the article, the authors consider the problem of forming a teacher's readiness to interact with gifted students in their professional activities. The educational policy of Russia today is aimed at supporting gifted children and young people, which are becoming one of the priority tasks of the education system (The Сoncept of a National System for Identifying and Developing Young Talents, approved by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation by the President of the Russian Federation on April 3, 2012, № Pr-827). The main contradiction is the need to introduce pedagogical strategies of interaction with gifted students to implement the trajectory of their continuous development at all levels of education and the lack of a system for forming teachers ' readiness to interact with gifted students. The article presents a methodological justification of the developed system of forming a teacher's readiness to interact with gifted students, which includes three interrelated elements: methodological, substantive and procedural. It is proved that the system of forming the teacher's readiness to interact with gifted students in professional activities ensures their continuous development during the implementation of certain educational strategies.

The autonomy of informal STEM and benefits of andragogy with gifted children

Purpose In distinguishing the education of adults from the education of children, a gray area lies on where to classify gifted and honors students. The purpose of this study was to determine if the attitudes of students at an honors STEM summer camp paralleled the educational needs of adults, namely self-directed learning.Design/methodology/approach Researchers analyzed survey responses through an exploratory factor analysis and five t tests.Findings The interpretation of the effect sizes showed that after engaging in a self-directed learning experience, students expressed more positive self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation, experienced reduced extrinsic motivation and anxiety, and were less task-completion oriented.Originality/value The results suggest that gifted and honors students may have a propensity to learn that is more similar to that of adults rather than their same-age peers.

Emotional Response to Testing in Gifted and Highly Gifted Children

Whether intellectually gifted children have a greater emotional response when tested is still unclear. This may be due to the marked heterogeneity of this particular population, and the fact that most studies lack the power to reduce the noise associated with this heterogeneity. The present study examined the relationship between performance and emotional response in 468,423 Italian fifth-graders taking a national test on mathematics and language. Analyses were performed using statistical models with polynomial terms. Special attention was paid to estimating the mean emotional response of the children who were gifted (1.5-2.5 standard deviations above the mean) or highly gifted (more than 2.5 standard deviations above the mean). The results showed that, although a lower emotional response correlated with a higher achievement, this relationship is nonlinear, and the estimates for gifted and highly gifted children were virtually the same. Girls showed a greater emotional response than boys on all levels of performance. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Criteria and Indicators of the Level of Formation in Intellectually Gifted Adolescents of the Culture of Social Interaction

Currently, one of the urgent problems of the education system is the search for effective methods of pedagogical support for the social development of intellectually gifted children and adolescents. The article contains the results of theoretical analysis and empirical research aimed at identifying the characteristics and level of formation of the culture of social interaction in intellectually gifted adolescents, considered as the main result of their social education in the educational environment of the school. The author reveals the essence of the culture of social interaction as a pedagogical phenomenon, develops diagnostic tools for its study and determines the level of its formation in 196 adolescents with outstanding mental abilities studying in grades 7-9 of secondary schools.

Educating Gifted Children in Turkey: A Retrospective Analysis and the Current State

The purpose of this study was to examine the education of gifted children in Turkey during 1923–2020 from an historical perspective and to evaluate the current practices in gifted education. Drawing from the literature review, we first report on the policies and the legal and corporate advancements implemented in the field of gifted education since the Declaration of the Republic. Subsequently, current practices in Turkey, including Science and Arts Centres, high schools for gifted students, and resource rooms, are evaluated. The results of a review of the relevant literature are discussed in the light of the current situation. In conclusion, it is understood that coherent and consistent policies in the field of gifted education have been developed more strongly in Turkey during the last 30 years, corporate advancements have also increased during this period, and scientific studies have gained an upward enhancement during the last 20 years. Despite all these advancements, it is concluded that current practices have still various deficiencies and should continue to be developed.

PROFESSIONAL SELF-REALIZATION PROGRAM FOR TEACHERS WORKING WITH GIFTED CHILDREN

In the article self-actualizing portraits (types) of teachers, which were identified on the basis of the study, are presented. The main aim of two of them (“Subject Teachers” and “Psychologists”) is to develop gifted students. The developed separate training program for teachers working in the context of the development of gifted students has been substantiated in the article. This made it possible for the Institute for the Development of Education to develop a strategy for advanced training and scientific and methodological support of teachers of both types. The strategy is based on the principles of mutual enrichment, mutual respect, cooperation of all subjects of the education system and promotes the professional self-realization of teachers and, as a result, the development of gifted students. Through participating in events using various forms and technologies, the teacher shows himself, his uniqueness and originality, the desire for his own realization in professional activity, demonstrates a personal attitude towards himself, colleagues, professional events, and corporate culture. Measures, creating an environment of advanced personal and professional development, contribute to the professional motivation of teachers, ensuring the effectiveness of the pedagogical activity, develop the readiness for professional self-realization, and help raise the level of awareness of the value of pedagogical activity for personal self-realization. The result of the implementation of the mentioned program for teachers will be the development of the creative potential of teachers; stimulation of personal and professional growth of teachers; self-identification, self-organization, self-government and professional self-realization of these types of teachers. Keywords: self-realization of personality; professional self-realization of the teacher; the self-actualizing portrait (type) of a teacher; cognitive, activity, emotional, axiological levels of the program; gifted children.