Challenges of separation of the gifted and talented students: A mixed approach

Paying attention to the elite and talented students has been one of the central ideas of the education system in each community. According to this, the aim of this study is assessment of challenges of seperation of gifted and talented students. Research method is an exploratory mixed type. The data were collected, using both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (researcher - made questionnaire) method. The questionnaire used in this study, included the intellectual foundation of separation with 30 items, and three subscales with reliability of 0.73, facilitating factors subscale with 21 items and the reliability coefficient of 0.83, inhibiting factors subscale with 12 items and a coefficient reliability of 0.85, social capital subscale with four subscales and 29 items, with a coefficient reliability of 0.84. The population in quantitative part was included all of the talented and gifted student’s schools and 4 regular schools in Bushehr province. The samples were appointed of 260 students, 70 parents and 70 teachers. In qualitative part, 15 faculty members of Shiraz University and Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz and 30 stakeholders (parents, teachers, and students) were interviewed. The qualitative results of this study showed that the separation approach, was not an acceptable performance in Iran, but because of lacking a suitable situation, omitting this approach is not allowed. After identifying the facilitating and inhibiting factors through the talented schools, these factors were presented for stakeholders groups, and the results showed that the factors such as: separation from the first years of primary school, higher social status, and obtaining the best jobs are the most important facilitating factors. Also, the current definition of talented, negative attitude of parents to these schools, and difficulty of internal exams in these schools are the most important inhibiting factors. In quantitative section of results, there was not found any significant differences between the attitudes of different stockholders groups to educational nessesity of separation, and to development of social capital' parameters. Separation of talented students could not raise the social capital of them.