The Teachers' Recognition and a Plan for the Improvement of the System on Selection of Gifted Students in Science Using Teachers' Observation and Nomination

과학 영재 관찰.추천 선발 방식에 대한 교사의 인식 조사 및 개선 방안

The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers' recognition and to suggest an improvement in the system of teacher's observation and nomination used to selecting gifted and talented students in Science in the Busan Metropolitan School District in 2013 by investigating teachers' recognition of the system and their expressed needs. The results are as follows. First, it was observed that teachers are of the opinion that it is difficult to determine the science gifted students by observation due to their lack of expertise in giftedness and gifted education, the lack of a check list to use, and the difficulty of ensuring the objectivity of the results of the determination. Second, the absence of objective screening tools used for the selection, the selection of gifted students based on their subjective judgment, and the possibility to select students based only on visible manifestations of ability may cause parents to mistrust the system. Thus, institutional support is required to address the concerns of teachers and parents. Third, the teachers who are in charge of observation, nomination, selection and determination need to be trained. After that, at least one of these teachers should be assigned in each school and training should operate continuously and systematically. Lastly, while these things are occurring, the process of observation and nomination of by teachers, which is the basis of pooling gifted students at the level of Busan Metropolitan School District, should be continued.