An Examination of the Courses for the Education of Exceptionally Talented Children in Special Education Teaching Programs in European Union Member States and Turkey

Overview & Synopsis

Legal regulations about education and educational policies are important for the quality of the practices. It has been seen that many countries invest in the education of the individuals who will form a qualified society in the future and focus on the teacher training and quality. The teachers have a great role in determining the exceptionally talented individuals in Turkey, their education, directing their performances in accordance with their interests and talents, enabling them to benefit from support education. Accordingly, in order to determine what kind of competency the teachers gain regarding this pre-service area, the courses in the special education teaching undergraduate programs regarding the exceptionally talented area in European Union (EU) and Turkey have been investigated in terms of number, term and credit content. Qualitative research method and document analysis technique are used in the descriptive study which aims to determine an existing situation. The data were obtained from education reports published by EU member countries about their own education systems, United Nations Children Rights and Education reports and Council of Higher Education's Teacher Training Programs. For example, the preservice teachers are given theoretical information in the first classes, then receive education in which they can observe and show effective teaching skills with a mentor in the following years in the countries such as Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Luxemburg, and Malta.