The Cognitive Map of a Master Teacher Conducting Discussions With Gifted Students

Abstract

Teachers have many methods available to them for instructing students. This article presents a teacher’s perspective on conducting a discussion with a group of children who were gifted and talented. I studied one teacher using participant observation and ethnographic interviewing as he taught in a special program. I used the concept of professional practical knowledge to describe the information and skills acquired through past experience that characterized his teaching. Eight patterns of thought and behavior were central to how he conducted discussions. I organized these patterns and their subroutines into a cognitive map to represent his teaching. I discuss the cognitive map and the implications of this study for future research and for the preparation of teachers of children who are gifted.