Talent development in the performing arts: Teacher characteristics, behaviors, and classroom practices

The visual and performing arts have been included in landmark studies of talent development but, within the field of gifted education, less is known of the arts as an area of talent development compared to other intellectual and academic talent areas. The lack of research related to the teachers of talented students in the arts endangers these students by potentially overlooking needs specific to their talent domain.;This descriptive study examined the teacher characteristics and behaviors that contribute to working successfully with artistically talented students at the secondary level as indicated by arts teachers in selected specialized secondary schools for the performing arts. This study also examined the instructional strategies and differentiated teaching behaviors implemented by these teachers and compared these to the literature and research on teacher effectiveness and differentiated instruction in the academic fields of gifted education.;The study used multiple data sources including questionnaire data from teachers at specialized secondary schools for the performing arts, follow-up interviews with selected teacher participants, administrator interviews, and document review. Overall, the study supported the research on teacher characteristics and behaviors from general and gifted education as applicable to arts teachers who work with talented students in the performing arts in specialized secondary schools. Teacher behaviors received lower ratings overall than teacher characteristics. Participants rated themselves highly on a measure of differentiated classroom practices, but the term differentiation was not recognizable to a majority of the teacher and administrator interview participants.;While the findings from this study support the assumption that the best teachers for talented students in the arts are highly-trained and experienced performing artists, responses indicate that most of the participants lack an understanding of effective pedagogy and educational practices reflected in the educational literature. Implications for practice, policy, and research focus on connections between general education and arts education regarding teacher effectiveness, connections between gifted education and arts education regarding talent development, and articulating differentiated practices within specialized programs for the performing arts.