Teacher of the Gifted - What is Needed?

Abstract

The paper casts an eye on the teacher of the gifted as well as on the teacher in general. There seems to be a consensus that gifted students have special needs, that they also need teacher with special abilities, but have the teachers to be gifted, too? A view in the relevant literature shows a lot of research, discussion and reflection around the characteristics, the role and the education of teachers for gifted and talented students. Even not all will agree, it is possible to say that it is not necessary that teachers themselves have to be gifted. Feldhusen (1994) for example stated that the characteristics of good teachers of the gifted are the same as those often found in gifted students themselves, and that the characteristics represent virtues that should characterize all teachers. With these basic idea the aim of the paper is to reflect the competencies and qualities of a teacher, who should be good teacher for all students and thus also for the gifted students. Using the metaphor ‘teaching as art’ the teacher’s professionalism will be presented and discussed as a combination of personal and professional skills, which makes the teacher able to create and to orchestrate learning processes. The good teacher knows the rules of teaching and he/she is able to apply them appropriately to the particular case. To be a good teacher for all requires a long developmental process of becoming a teacher. The core in this process has to be the development of the professional self, which ultimately makes the teacher a ‘wise teacher’.