Syfte
The study investigates kindergarten employees' perceptions of giftedness and gifted children. The research questions are: 1) How have kindergarten staff acquired knowledge about giftedness and how do they describe what the term gifted means? 2) Are there experiences involving specific subject areas where giftedness has been noticed, if so, which ones? 3) How do kindergarten staff view giftedness in relation to kindergarten as an educational context? 4) Who or what do kindergarten staff think should be responsible for facilitating and supporting gifted children in kindergarten?
Resultat
The survey reveals a lack of education and knowledge about giftedness among kindergarten employees. At the same time, a majority of them believe that gifted children have the right to be noticed in a kindergarten context, but few have suggestions as to how this should be implemented. The kindergarten staff were very confident that their own kindergartens were sufficient in meeting the needs of gifted children, but the obstacles described were lack of time, lack of suitable teaching materials and that the group sizes were too large.
Design
The data collection was carried out using an online survey, created with the Limesurvey Community Edition tool. The questions varied between suggestions of their own descriptions of giftedness and views on support for gifted children, to who in the work group the kindergarten staff believe should be responsible for facilitating and supporting gifted children. Kindergarten personnel from eleven Swedish kindergartens, from different municipalities, participated in the investigation. The response rate was 31 percent (number = 78, of which 92 percent were women).
Referenser
Ekesryd Nordström, M. (2021). “Förskolepersonals syn på att uppmärksamma särskild begåvning i förskolan”. Utbildning och Lärande/Education and Learning, 15(3):32-49.