In this master's thesis, we define and investigate the role of a pedagogical coordinator in working with gifted pupils in primary school. In the theoretical part, we define giftedness and the characteristics of gifted students, also we present some curricular models for identifying and working with gifted students. Next, we focus in more detail on the Slovenian concept of identifying and working with gifted students and present the process of identifying and working with them. We further define the role of the pedagogical coordinator, while also emphasizing the role of the school counseling service, as it is involved in all levels of identification and work with the gifted. In the empirical part of the research, we investigated how the coordinator's role is reflected in practice: we found what their most common tasks are, how often they perform direct work with gifted students, and how they experience the role of the coordinator. We also researched whether and in what way the coordinators acquire the appropriate knowledge and competences to perform their role, what problems they face at work, and whether and where they get help and support when needed. In the research, we also focused on the aspect of other participant’s cooperation (teachers, parents of gifted students, school management, external institutions, etc.) with the coordinator in the process of identifying and working with the gifted, moreover we delved into the discovery of good practices and shortcomings in the implementation of the concept of identification and work with the gifted in each school.
In the empirical research, we found that the majority of pedagogical coordinators who work with the gifted are school counselors; they most often perform work tasks in the field of identifying and working with the gifted, and they also perform direct work with the gifted which is most often in the form of organized lessons for the gifted. The data also showed that the participating coordinators experience their role as important, but at the same time challenging; they estimated that they were moderately satisfied with their role. They mostly rated their professional competence for performing the role of a coordinator as sufficient, and the appropriate competences and knowledge for performing the role are most often acquired in the form of organized lectures/seminars/training at or away from their home school. We found that they are most often faced with overload (themselves as coordinators, teachers, gifted students, other professionals, etc.). Nevertheless, the coordinators estimated that they receive enough support and help with their work, most often from the school management. As for the cooperation of other participants, the coordinators mostly rated the cooperation slightly above average, but the highest rating was given to the cooperation with the school management. The quality of the work of the pedagogical coordinator for work with the gifted is essential for the successful implementation of the Elementary School Concept (1999): in the research, we highlighted both shortcomings and examples of good practices that should be taken into account in further research in the field of identifying and working with the gifted, and also in the actual work with the gifted and the talented in primary school.
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