Does School Counselors’ Self-efficacy to Work with Gifted Students Fed by Their Knowledge and Perception regarding Giftedness

Abstract

The unique characteristics constituting giftedness make gifted students quite different from other same age peers and differieniate their psychological needs. School counselors have critical roles in providing effective and emotional assistance to those gifted students. School counselors’ self-efficacy is an important factor in serving both gifted students and non-gifted students. Thus, the current cross-sectional study aimed to examine whether school counselors' knowledge and perceptions of the gifted students predict counselors' self-efficacy to work with this specific group after controlling for work experience. The sample comprised 118 Turkish psychological counselors actively engaged in psychological counseling practices in school settings in Elazığ, Turkey. As data collection tools, School Counselors' Knowledge, Perception, and Self-Efficacy Scales regarding gifted students, and a demographic form were used. Hierarchical regression analysis was applied to examine predictive associations. Results demonsrated that counselors' work experience, knowledge, and perceptions regarding gifted students were found as significant predictors and explained the 44% of the total variance in their self-efficacy to work with gifted students. By increasing self-efficacy levels of school counselors to work with gifted students and possibility of better counseling and assistance, the current study showed the importance of enhanced knowledge and perceptions towards gifted students.