THE SUCCESS OF RECORDING ARTISTICALLY GIFTED PUPILS AT THE GRADE LEVEL IN SLOVENE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

• Main Authors: Matjaž Duh, Nina Mohorko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: CEOs Ltd. 2021-09-01
• Series: Innovative Issues and Approaches in Social Sciences
• Subjects: artistic gifts; recording of artistically gifted pupils; characteristics of artistically gifted pupils; creativity
• Online Access: http://www.iiass.com/pdf/IIASS-2021-no-art16.pdf

In this paper, we discuss the recording of artistically gifted children in Slovene elementary schools. The recording of artistically gifted children took place by collecting drawings of children who were considered by the elementary education teachers to be artistically gifted. These artworks were evaluated for creativity and developed spatial abilities by an independent commission of experts in the field of art pedagogy. In the research, we were interested in the extent to which elementary education teachers' grades match the analytically obtained grades based on theoretically designed criteria for discovering artistic gifts. The research aimed to determine whether pupils (n = 103), who were recorded by teachers as artistically gifted, actually have developed abilities that determine artistic talent. The research results show that the teachers covered by the research were not successful in identifying artistically gifted pupils. Recognizing artistic gifts caused them problems. Teachers are poorly acquainted with the concept of artistic talent and the characteristics of artistically gifted pupils. It has also been found that the subjective conception of beauty is at the forefront of teachers; however, they neglect the creativity aspect. The research findings showed that most teachers have misconceptions and insufficient knowledge about the elements that indicate that pupils are potentially artistically gifted.