Page 93 - Kukanja Gabrijelčič, Mojca, and Maruška Seničar Željeznov, eds. 2018. Teaching Gifted and Talented Children in A New Educational Era. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 93
Teacher Strategies to Motivate Gifted Students: A Multiple Case Study on Teacher Behavior
Teacher C: ‘The first lessons of every day, I want to observe how students be-
have when they come into my classroom. I want to see the expression on
their faces, and how they behave before they arrive at my lesson.’
Teacher E. When students entered the classroom, this teacher greeted his stu-
dents, and then he walked around, talked with students, joked with them,
showed pleasure in being with the students, and explained his behaviour as
follows: ‘I like doing this. As a teacher you want to have some relationship
with your students. This is quite different from the time I was a student. In
those days, we entered the classroom really quietly and didn’t talk at all. But
as a teacher nowadays you do not expect this from your students anymore.
And, well, I really like my connections with the students.’
Teacher D. This teacher explained that she always socialized with her stu-
dents before starting her lesson. She explained: Well, contact with your stu-
dents, that’s the basis. Students, even of this age (15, 16 years of age) – and
maybe this is really a little bit odd to say – also work for you! And considering
that this is a pre-university class, yes! You have a little chat with them, you
know, and then they go to work for you! It is very interesting how this works.
Of course, they work for themselves, but that bond you have with them, and
taking some moments to socialize with them, that is really important!
Teacher E. When teaching, the teacher used examples from real life, taking
into account students’ interests, their ages, and what he had experienced
himself at their age. His motives for demonstrating personal involvement
with his students were: ‘I think that a personal relationship with my students
is very important. And I am convinced that students at this age are not just
engaged with their study but also with personal relationships. Students who
have a good relationship with their teacher will perform better.’
Discussion
This study, involving six exemplary teachers of gifted secondary education
students, was performed in order to explore in-depth what teachers of gifted
students in the Netherlands actually do in class to challenge and motivate
their gifted students. We used the SDT frame of reference in order to iden-
tify components of the learning environment, which could promote gifted
students’ motivation, and support further empirical enquiry into the speci-
fication of relevant dimensions of teacher behaviour to motivate gifted stu-
dents.
We found that the teachers, who took part in this study, planned their
lessons in a rather organized and structured way, and showed knowledge
91
Teacher C: ‘The first lessons of every day, I want to observe how students be-
have when they come into my classroom. I want to see the expression on
their faces, and how they behave before they arrive at my lesson.’
Teacher E. When students entered the classroom, this teacher greeted his stu-
dents, and then he walked around, talked with students, joked with them,
showed pleasure in being with the students, and explained his behaviour as
follows: ‘I like doing this. As a teacher you want to have some relationship
with your students. This is quite different from the time I was a student. In
those days, we entered the classroom really quietly and didn’t talk at all. But
as a teacher nowadays you do not expect this from your students anymore.
And, well, I really like my connections with the students.’
Teacher D. This teacher explained that she always socialized with her stu-
dents before starting her lesson. She explained: Well, contact with your stu-
dents, that’s the basis. Students, even of this age (15, 16 years of age) – and
maybe this is really a little bit odd to say – also work for you! And considering
that this is a pre-university class, yes! You have a little chat with them, you
know, and then they go to work for you! It is very interesting how this works.
Of course, they work for themselves, but that bond you have with them, and
taking some moments to socialize with them, that is really important!
Teacher E. When teaching, the teacher used examples from real life, taking
into account students’ interests, their ages, and what he had experienced
himself at their age. His motives for demonstrating personal involvement
with his students were: ‘I think that a personal relationship with my students
is very important. And I am convinced that students at this age are not just
engaged with their study but also with personal relationships. Students who
have a good relationship with their teacher will perform better.’
Discussion
This study, involving six exemplary teachers of gifted secondary education
students, was performed in order to explore in-depth what teachers of gifted
students in the Netherlands actually do in class to challenge and motivate
their gifted students. We used the SDT frame of reference in order to iden-
tify components of the learning environment, which could promote gifted
students’ motivation, and support further empirical enquiry into the speci-
fication of relevant dimensions of teacher behaviour to motivate gifted stu-
dents.
We found that the teachers, who took part in this study, planned their
lessons in a rather organized and structured way, and showed knowledge
91
