Raising the Bar
In the Netherlands and Flanders, a growing number of primary schools are now providing gifted education. Teachers have expressed their need for practical suggestions that will help them to offer high-quality education to gifted learners.

To achieve high quality in gifted education, high quality in teacher education on this subject is required. To meet their professional needs, an increasing number of Dutch and Flemish teachers are investing in continuous professional development on the subject of gifted education.

In this study, van Gerven has developed a competency matrix that provides a framework for the curriculum development of postgraduate teacher education programmes for specialists in gifted education at primary level. Generic teaching competencies were viewed through the lens of gifted education. This resulted in a matrix that describes 25 competencies considered by the international professional community of specialists in gifted education to contribute to high-quality gifted education. This newly developed competency matrix matches the inclusive approach that underpins Dutch and Flemish education policy on how teachers should cope with the diversity of students in their classrooms.

Competency matrix
Van Gerven analysed both empirical studies and more practically oriented literature used by the international professional community of gifted education. She described what knowledge and skills could be considered examples of the 25 competencies that
are recommended. Stakeholders (teachers, specialists in gifted education and parents) were presented with these indicators and asked which of them they considered important.

Their selections provide insight into their understanding of the competencies of specialists in gifted education. The selections also provide a better understanding of what stakeholders consider to be important for gifted education. There were relatively small differences between the three groups of stakeholders in what they considered to be the best examples of gifted education, and their high selection rates covered topics like stimulating intrapersonal understanding, stimulating academic achievement, and stimulating the student’s ability for self-actualisation.

This competency matrix can be used as a mental framework for the development of customised teacher education, based on the particular professional concerns of teachers. It can be used as a guideline in developing professional standards for specialists in gifted education. The matrix can also be used by primary schools as a framework for designing gifted education for their gifted learners.

About the author
Eleonoor van Gerven is director of Slim! Educatief, a private teacher education institute in The Netherlands. She specialised in gifted education and the systemic change- and solution-focused approach.

At the time this study was conducted, Eleonoor van Gerven was appointed as a researcher at UHasselt, School for Educational Studies, Agoralaan, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium.