Raising the Bar

The Competencies of Specialists in Gifted Education

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 their students.