Evaluation of Education Practices for Gifted Students in Turkey according to the Opinions of BILSEM Teachers

The aim of this study is to determine the answer to the question of what can be done to improve the quality of education of gifted students in Turkey by referring to the opinions of Science and Art Centre (BİLSEM) teachers working in the field in Turkey. In this study, semi-structured interview method, one of the qualitative research approaches, was used. The study group of the research consists of 30 teachers working in Science and Art Centres in the central districts of Konya in the 2022-2023 academic year. Typical case sampling model, one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used to determine the teachers whose opinions were consulted in the study. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool. The collected data were analysed in accordance with content analysis. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that physical equipment deficiencies, teacher competencies, individualised education processes and inadequacy of in-service trainings are the main factors that negatively affect the development of gifted students in BİLSEMs and that teachers should participate in systematic and practice-based professional development programmes, adopt student-centred teaching approaches and improve physical conditions in order to solve these problems. It was observed that the results obtained in the study overlapped with the results in the literature.