Abstract

There is virtually no pre-primary school classroom in which gifted children cannot be found. It is important therefore that pre-primary schools create the right opportunities for the gifted children to maximise their potentials. Despite the importance of providing the gifted children with right opportunities however,the gifted children remain unchallenged in regular pre-primary school classrooms. This situation, as revealed in literature, can be traced to many factors. However, one other factor that can also be held responsible but which seems to have gained only little research attention, is the knowledge that pre-primary school teachers have regarding characteristics and nuturing of gifted children. This study thus investigated pre-school teachers’ knowledge of characteristics and nurturing of gifted children. The study adopted descriptive survey design. One hundred and twenty one preschool teachers from public and private schools constituted the sample. Instruments used were “Knowledge Test on Characteristics of Gifted Children” and “Knowledge Test on Nurturing of Gifted Children”. Data was analysed using percentage, mean and standard deviation. Findings revealed low knowledge of pre-primary school teachers regarding characteristics and nuturing of gifted children. Government as well as school owners’ needs to employ the service of special education professionals to train pre-primary school teachers on issues related to characteristics and nuturing of gifted children. The curricula used for professional preparation of pre-primary school teachers should be innovated to feature sufficient contents on gifted and talented children.