Attitudes of American and English Preservice Teachers Toward Gifted Learners

At a time when proponents of reform call for teachers to be ready to teach all children well, the needs of academically diverse learners are of primary concern. In striving for equity without sacrificing excellence, we must attend to the individual and diverse needs of all students. In order to educate well, we must teach to the individual rather than to the ambiguous "average" student. Since teacher attitudes can facilitate or impede this process, it is critical to understand the attitudes teachers hold toward academically diverse learners in general and gifted learners in particular. Of primary importance is a measure of these attitudes during the teacher preparation program.To investigate the issue of preservice teachers’ attitudes toward academically diverse learners and to discern areas of agreement/disagreement with respect to gifted learners, this study addressed the following research questions:1. What kind of attitudes (positive, negative, neutral) do preservice teachers hold toward gifted learners in particular?2. What similarities/differences are there in the responses of American and English preservice teachers on questions dealing specifically with gifted learners?Results indicate the responses given by both groups to the questions regarding gifted students were quite similar for most of the questions, even when questions did not reflect a positive attitude. Consensus was unexpected since one group had very little exposure to academically diverse learners while the other group’s training included more attention to the needs of academically diverse learners.