University Study: Training Gifted Students' Teachers in View of Professional Standards to Enhance Students Skills
A study conducted at King Khalid University confirmed the necessity of adopting professional standards for teachers issued by the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (2020) in preparing training programs for teachers of gifted students. The study revealed the impact of a proposed training program which aims to develop teaching skills of middle school science teachers, and the effect of it in the development of future thinking skills and soft skills for their students.
The sample of the study conducted by the researcher Reem Bint Ali Al Mezher, under the supervision of Prof. Abdullah Ali Al-Qasi, Professor of Curriculum and Science Teaching Methods at the College of Education at King Khalid University, consisted of 10 gifted students' science teachers in the intermediate level in Asir region, who were trained and tested on teaching skills before and after the experiment. It also consisted of 35 gifted students in the 3rd intermediate grade, who were divided into 2 groups: the experimental group, which consisted of 17 students whose teachers attended the training program, and the control group, which consisted of 18 students whose teachers did not attend the training program.
The study worked on developing a proposed training program based on professional standards for gifted students' teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and preparing study tools, which were reflected in (the teaching skills test, future thinking skills test, and soft skills measurement). Additionally, the study used both an experimental strategy with a semi-experimental design and a descriptive approach.
The study's findings showed that there were statistically significant variations between the mean teaching competence scores of female teachers on the pre-and post-application tests at the significance level of 0.05, favoring the post-application of the suggested training program. Additionally, there were statistically significant differences between the means of the experimental and control students’ groups' scores in the post-application future thinking skills test and the soft skills measurement at the significance level of 0.05, favoring the experimental group.
