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A study of the preferred teaching styles and their relationships with selected variables (gender, levels and subjects taught, and experience with the gifted) of teachers of the gifted in Singapore
Abstract
Research (Bishop, 1968; Whitmore, 1980; Feldhusen, 1991; Baldwin, 1993) has indicated that the teacher plays a pivotal role in enabling the gifted to achieve their potential. Given the situation in Singapore, where people are its only resource and a limited one, it was decided on the establishment of the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) that attention would be paid to the selection of appropriate teachers so as not to jeopardise this valuable resource (Phua, 1983).
The purpose of this study was to partly replicate the study of Howell and Bressler (1988) to investigate whether the teaching styles preferred by teachers of the gifted lay in the intuitive domain, and to compare them to the preferences of teachers in the regular stream to see if there were any significant differences. If there were significant differences, it was the intention of the researcher to explore whether the preferences of teachers in the GEP were influenced by variables in their background, that of gender, levels and subjects taught and experience in teaching the gifted.
The sample comprised 110 teachers from the GEP and 134 teachers from the regular stream who agreed to participate in this study. Information on the teachers' background was acquired through a demographic inventory designed by the researcher and their teaching style preferences through the Teaching Style Inventory developed by Silver and Hanson (1981).
The findings of this study confirmed that of Howell and Bressler's (1988) study, that teachers of the gifted showed a significant preference for the intuitive-thinking (NT) and intuitive-feeling (NF) teaching styles, which were more intellectually- and innovatively-oriented, and which corresponded positively with the data on the learning preferences and needs of gifted children. Regular stream teachers, on the other hand, significantly preferred the sensing-thinking teaching style which was more factually- and outcome-oriented. In examining the effects of the demographic variables on the NT and NF teaching style preferences of GEP teachers, it was found that only the main effect of subjects taught on the NT teaching style was significant, with science teachers in the GEP preferring this style in comparison with humanities teachers. Significant interaction was also found between levels and subjects taught on the NT teaching style preference. It emerged that science GEP teachers, both primary and secondary, showed greater preference for the NT teaching style in comparison with humanities GEP teachers and interestingly, that secondary teachers in the GEP, whether science or humanities, showed a greater preference for this teaching style in comparison with the primary GEP teachers.
The findings yielded by this study have implications on the popularly-held view that the needs of the gifted can be adequately met in the regular classroom. From the findings, it can be seen that the gifted in Singapore will not thrive in the environment provided in the regular classroom, given the teaching style preferred by regular stream teachers. The findings of this study should also be of interest to the GE Unit, as it indirectly evaluated the selection process being used to screen teachers for the GEP. They show that the GE Unit has largely succeeded in its goal of selecting teachers with teaching styles in the intuitive domain, thus affirming the selection process that is currently being employed.
The purpose of this study was to partly replicate the study of Howell and Bressler (1988) to investigate whether the teaching styles preferred by teachers of the gifted lay in the intuitive domain, and to compare them to the preferences of teachers in the regular stream to see if there were any significant differences. If there were significant differences, it was the intention of the researcher to explore whether the preferences of teachers in the GEP were influenced by variables in their background, that of gender, levels and subjects taught and experience in teaching the gifted.
The sample comprised 110 teachers from the GEP and 134 teachers from the regular stream who agreed to participate in this study. Information on the teachers' background was acquired through a demographic inventory designed by the researcher and their teaching style preferences through the Teaching Style Inventory developed by Silver and Hanson (1981).
The findings of this study confirmed that of Howell and Bressler's (1988) study, that teachers of the gifted showed a significant preference for the intuitive-thinking (NT) and intuitive-feeling (NF) teaching styles, which were more intellectually- and innovatively-oriented, and which corresponded positively with the data on the learning preferences and needs of gifted children. Regular stream teachers, on the other hand, significantly preferred the sensing-thinking teaching style which was more factually- and outcome-oriented. In examining the effects of the demographic variables on the NT and NF teaching style preferences of GEP teachers, it was found that only the main effect of subjects taught on the NT teaching style was significant, with science teachers in the GEP preferring this style in comparison with humanities teachers. Significant interaction was also found between levels and subjects taught on the NT teaching style preference. It emerged that science GEP teachers, both primary and secondary, showed greater preference for the NT teaching style in comparison with humanities GEP teachers and interestingly, that secondary teachers in the GEP, whether science or humanities, showed a greater preference for this teaching style in comparison with the primary GEP teachers.
The findings yielded by this study have implications on the popularly-held view that the needs of the gifted can be adequately met in the regular classroom. From the findings, it can be seen that the gifted in Singapore will not thrive in the environment provided in the regular classroom, given the teaching style preferred by regular stream teachers. The findings of this study should also be of interest to the GE Unit, as it indirectly evaluated the selection process being used to screen teachers for the GEP. They show that the GE Unit has largely succeeded in its goal of selecting teachers with teaching styles in the intuitive domain, thus affirming the selection process that is currently being employed.
Date Issued
1995
Call Number
LC3998.S5 Tha
Date Submitted
1995