Labelling of gifted children in the family from the perspective of teachers and its manifestations at school

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study that explores the structure of labelling gifted children and its effects on the family environment from the perspective of teachers. The study, which was performed based on a focus group of 19 teachers from the Czech Republic, covered aspects of classroom teaching as well as communications with the parents of gifted children. Qualitative data was analysed using open and axial coding. The results show that parents are apprehensive of their child being identified as "gifted" at counselling centres because of the formalization of this process. Following the identification of giftedness, the teachers recorded changes in the attitudes of children and parents. In the case of the children, the internalization of typical characteristics of this population occurs in both a negative and positive sense. The teachers indicated two attitudes in the parents: they either exaggerated the child's giftedness, which occasionally led to interference with the curriculum of educators or they approached the giftedness with apprehension-both of these stances reflecting susceptibility to certain myths on giftedness. Upon transition of the child from ISCED 1 to 2, we registered the tendency of the parents to underrate the negative consequences of labelling. The elimination of labelling is passive (not professional)-that is, by ignoring or deviating from institutional practices and procedures put in place to enhance the development of giftedness.