Luso-Brazilian Comparative Study on Initial Education of Teachers in High Abilities/Giftedness With Focus on Curricular Contents

ABSTRACT: Students with high abilities/giftedness are part of the target public of Special Education. Thus, their particularities require educational measures appropriate to the maximum development of their potential, involving planning and implementation of pedagogical strategies consistent with the needs of students, pointing to the need for teacher education. From this perspective, it is considered essential that the educator has knowledge about the subject with high abilities/giftedness so that he/she can develop practices that favor the growth of students’ potentials and abilities. Thus, this paper aimed to analyze the curricula of teacher education that will work with children from three to 10 years of age in two public universities, one Brazilian (Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’, UNESP, Marília Campus) and another, Portuguese (Universidade do Minho, UMinho, Gualtar Campus). The purpose is to verify whether or not high abilities/giftedness constitute a disciplinary content in the initial education offered. From the analysis of the teaching plans of the disciplines, there were indications that this theme is addressed in the course of Pedagogy of UNESP and in the Masters’ in Teaching of UMinho. In view of this, the intention is to continue this investigation in order to confirm these results through interviews with the professors and students of these universities.