Fostering Parent-Teacher Relationships when Children are Gifted

Abstract

The specific focus of this study was on parent and teacher relationships, when a child is gifted. The study addressed two interrelated questions. (1) What is the parent's perspective of the relationship between parent and teacher when a child is gifted? (2) What is the teacher's perspective of the relationship between parent and teacher when a child is gifted? Five parents and four teachers were interviewed individually on several occasions, and the interview content was analyzed thematically. For parents, five themes were identified, related to instructional programming, teacher competencies, curriculum needs, parental involvement in their children 's education, and problematic behavior. For teachers, there were also five themes, including identification of giftedness, funding issues, communication issues, partnerships in education, and impact on the children. The parent and teacher themes are reported in greater detail elsewhere (Penney & Wilgosh, 1998). This paper addresses the four overlapping themes derived from a comparison of the parent and teacher themes: funding issues, meeting the children's needs, communication, and impact on the children. Implications for fostering parent and teacher partnerships are discussed.