Is Giftedness A Matter Of Justice? Explaining Implicit Attitudes Of Student Teachers Towards Giftedness Using A Social Justice Framework

Teachers’ conceptions of giftedness influence which students they identify as gifted and how they behave towards these students. Research findings are mixed, showing an overall positive, negative, or ambivalent view that considers gifted students as intellectually strong, but socio-emotionally inferior. Such misconceptions might lead teachers to focus on their students’ perceived socio-emotional weaknesses instead of supporting their strengths. This study wants to identify how the label gifted influences teacher ratings of student characteristics. Furthermore, it aims to account for implicit teacher assumptions by using a social justice framework. We assume that the belief in a just world might moderate these assumptions as an inter-individual aspect of personality disposition.