Teachers’ Views of Academically Gifted Students Through the Lens of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study in Three Countries

Abstract

This cross-country study employed a qualitative design to explore teachers’ views of their gifted students and of these students’ adjustment and education during the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 52 teachers from Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia were interviewed about gifted students in general and, in continuation, about a particular gifted student who was selected for the purpose of this study. In both instances and across all three countries, the teachers tended to describe gifted students mainly in terms of the “harmony hypothesis.” Teaching these students in pandemic circumstances only added to the harmony view: The gifted were seen as having adapted quickly and without much academic loss to the new (learning) conditions. Nevertheless, the pandemic experience also seems to have allowed teachers to see a systemic neglect of gifted students and clearly notice the need for proper enrichment and social-emotional support if these students are to reach their full potential.