Can a behavioral questionnaire, based on the revised profiles of the gifted and talented children (Betts & Neihart, 2010) lead to relevant educational interventions in practice?
In this study participated 23 gifted secondary school pupils aged 13 to 15, their parents and 4 teachers who have taught the pupils for at least 2 years. They filled out separate behavioral questionnaires of 46 statements, based on the revised profiles by Betts and Neihart. The posttest took place one year later. Within the pre and posttest period the pupils were observed by the teachers who suggested and implemented a number of interventions which were primarily individually aimed, however affected the whole test group of pupils.
The outcomes showed some noticeable changes. Predominantly in the posttest outcomes were vivid in the particular profile within which the preferable jointly interventions were aimed at: “The Autonomous Learner”. This means a positive result within the terms and purposes of this study. The teachers’ and parents‘ outcomes could be seen as confirmative, often, but definitely not always. There was, however, a discrepancy in the outcomes of parents and teachers.
Considering the outcomes, one can conclude that the profiles are effective as means of identifying gifted pupils’ needs, but insufficient for effective implementation into practice. The theoretical knowledge which were strengthend by teachers’ intervisions has been used in order to achieve the preferable educational interventions. Hence the results of this exploratory study could be seen as positive, including the fact of importance of the behavior questionnaire being a reasonable identifying and approach indicating means for implementations of educational interventions aimed on pupils’ learning process.