A Comparison of Trained and Untrained Teacher-Perceptions about Mathematically Gifted Learners in South Africa and USA

Abstract

The advent of the 4IR demands that we balance equity and excellence in our mathematics education. In the current debates about skills needed in the 4IR, the mathematically gifted have been described as “the world’s ultimate capital asset,” yet in South Africa reports show that at a time when the educational emphasis is being strongly placed on meeting the needs of the struggling learners, the mathematically gifted learner is often an afterthought.This paper is premised on the view that intervention should start by addressing teacher perceptions of gifted education. Following a quasi-experimental non-equivalent design 118 Foundation Phase teachers who had not received training on gifted education were surveyed in South Africa. Structured interviews were done with 21 trained teachers in the USA. A comparison of their responses reveals similar findings that trained teachers tend to have positive perceptions about gifted education than untrained teachers. Our recommendations are that such findings should inform the development of teacher development programs for the benefit of our mathematically gifted students.