Teacher Attitudes Towards Gifted Education in a Metropolitan Boys' School: What Work Needs to be Done?

A survey based on Gagne and Nadeau's attitude scale about the gifted and their education was conducted at a school, 'Riverbank High School', to determine the attitudes of teachers towards gifted and talented students. During the first week of school, 30 of the 56 full-time teachers were randomly selected and given the survey, together with an explanatory note. This discovery of attitudes was viewed as critical before implementing a gifted program, as such a program cannot be successful if its proponents are not convinced that it is the best way to cater for the gifted population. The intention was to identify a core group of teachers to be formed from various key learning areas (KLAs) to plan and implement a holistic gifted program to be part of every unit of instruction regardless of the curriculum area. In conjunction with this, programs of enrichment and acceleration would also be planned. The results of the survey - although wider sampling is required for any interpretation to be fully realistic and able to be generalised - indicated that much needs to be done to prepare the teachers of 'Riverside High School' for a successful gifted program.