CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF GIFTED AND TALENTED PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine whether the career development of those gifted and talented primary school students attending Science and Art Centres (SAC) varies according to their gender, grade, income, the educational level of parents and field variables. The participants consisted of 136 gifted and talented students (76 females and 60 males) attending SAC. The age of students ranged between 12 and 15 years. The research data were gathered by applying the “Career Development Scale for Childhood,” and personal information form. In this research, the data were analyzed using t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis Test. The study revealed those results; the curiosity/exploration scores of the gifted and talented female students were significantly higher than the scores of the male ones. The information and planning subscales and career development scale scores of sixth grade students were significantly higher than scores of the seventh grade students. The time perspective scores of gifted and talented students with middle income-level are significantly higher than scores of the ones with higher income-level. Scores of the curiosity/exploration, planning subscales and career development total of the students attending SAC for art education are significantly higher than the scores of the ones attending SAC for general mental talents. The findings were discussed in the light of previous studies. The limitations of the study were defined and some recommendations were provided to teachers, guidance services in schools, families and further researches Gifted and talented students are usually multi-potential, as their levels of general ability are high (Kerr and Sodano, 2003). A high level of general ability enables the gifted and talented student to achieve an intellectual effort with high performance. The gifted and talented students should base their academic and career choices on the fields they are most competent in. However, the educational and career choices of many gifted and talented students may be influenced more by other factors (such as gender, family, socio-economic level, economic and political factors) than by their strong abilities. In brief, the state of children who are endowed with a high level of general ability and multipotentiality entails a particular importance to be placed on career guidance and counseling aimed at their choice of courses, occupational field and career. Thus, there is a necessity for providing preventive, improving and, when needed, instantly intervening career guidance and counseling service, which is developmental and comprehensive, for those children. It can be observed that various studies have been carried out abroad (Dixon, Cross and Adams, 2001; Emmett and Minor, 1993; Ford, 1995; Kerr, Anderson and Cohn, 2001; Kerr, Colangelo, Maxey and Christensen, 1992; Kerr and Erb, 1991; Kerr and Christ-Priebe, 1998; Sajjadi, Rejskind and Shore, 2001) and necessary precautions have been taken by the concerned public institutions and organizations (the guidance laboratory of Nebraska University for gifted and talented children, 1982; a counseling laboratory in Iowa University for gifted and talented students, 1986) (Kerr and Erb, 1991). In Turkey, on the other hand, it can be stated that the theoretical and applied studies on the identification and education of gifted and talented students (Ataman, 2000, 2004; Özbay, 2013; Kontaş, 2012; Sak, 2012, 2013; Sak, Karabacak and Kılıç, 2009, Davaslıgil, 2004), on their psychological guidance and counseling (Özbay, 2013; Özbay and Palancı 2011, Hökelekli, and Gündüz 2004) and career guidance and counseling (Kulaksızoğlu and Otrar 2004, Bozgeyikli and Doğan, 2010; Bacanlı, 2010) not only started quite later, but also are very few in number. Moreover, it is significant that almost all of those studies are aimed at adolescents at high school. Yet, according to Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad and Herma (1951), Gottfredson (2002) and Super (1953, 1990) career development is a dynamic lifelong process starting during childhood and occurring over later developmental stages. Super (1963) has pointed out that career development consists of five stages which are Growth (ages 3-13), Exploration (ages 14-25), Establishment (ages 25-44), Maintenance (ages 45-65) and Decline (over 65) and has identified the career development tasks for each stage. Super (1990) emphasizes that among others, the theoretical and applied studies related to growth stage have been neglected. According to Super (1990), in order to be able to choose the appropriate career for themselves in the future, the children should attain the behaviors related to career development—such as understanding the importance of working, being curious about and inquiring the occupations and business life, recognizing occupational information sources, realizing what they are fond of doing, planning the future, increasing their control over their lives, taking the occupational behaviors of the adults around them as role-models and knowing themselves—during the occupational development stage they are in. Based on those stages, Super (1990) developed a Childhood Career Development Model which analyzed the career development of the children in the growth stage. Super defined the dimensions of career development in childhood as curiosity, exploration, information, key figures, interests, locus of control, time perspective, self-concept and planning. According to Super, successfully attaining the behaviors in those nine dimensions leads the children to learn the behaviors of effective career decision-making. Super asserts that the behaviors in the dimensions he determined are not only limited to behaviors about working and occupational life, but also contributory to the ones that the children acquire at school, in their daily lives or through games and which are not directly related to career choices. Drawing upon Super’s (1990) model of career development

Özet

Bu araştırmanın amacı Bilim ve Sanat Merkezlerine (BİLSEM) devam eden üstün yetenekli ilköğretim öğrencilerinin kariyer gelişimlerinin cinsiyete, sınıf düzeyine, gelir düzeyine, anne ve baba eğitim düzeyine ve alan değişkenlerine göre farklılaşıp farklılaşmadığını incelemektir. Araştırma grubu, BİLSEM'e devam eden üstün yetenekli 136 (76 kız, 60 erkek) öğrenciden oluşmuştur. Öğrencilerin yaş ranjı 12 ile 15 aralığındadır. Araştırma verileri, "Çocuklar için Kariyer Gelişim Ölçeği-ÇKGÖ" ve Kişisel Bilgi Formu kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Araştırmada veriler t-testi, varyans analizi (ANOVA) ve Kruskal-Wallis Testi kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Araştırmada sonuçlar, üstün yetenekli kız öğrencilerin merak/araştırma puanlarının erkek öğrencilerin puanlarından anlamlı olarak yüksek bulunmuştur. Altıncı sınıf öğrencilerinin ÇKGÖ'nün toplam, bilgi ve planlama alt ölçekleri puanları yedinci sınıf öğrencilerinin puanlarından anlamlı olarak yüksek bulunmuştur. Gelir düzeyi orta olan üstün yetenekli öğrencilerin ÇKGÖ zaman perspektifi puanları, gelir düzeyi yüksek olanlardan anlamlı olarak yüksek bulunmuştur. Resim alanında BİLSEM'e devam eden öğrencilerin ÇKGÖ'nün toplam, merak/araştırma ve planlama alt ölçekleri puanları genel zihinsel yetenek alanında BİLSEM'e devam eden öğrencilerin puanlarından anlamlı olarak yüksek bulunmuştur. Bulgular ilgili literatüre dayanılarak tartışılmış, araştırmanın sınırlılıkları belirtilmiş, öğretmenlere, okul rehberlik ve psikolojik danışma servislerine, ailelere ve gelecek araştırmalara yönelik öneriler sunulmuştur