”Öppna munnen så ska jag hälla i lite kunskap om särbegåvade elever” : En kvalitativ studie om hur lågstadielärare definierar särbegåvade elever, och beskriver och reflekterar över den egna matematikundervisningen för dessa elever

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to extend the knowledge regarding teachers in the primary school's early years' perception of students with special talents. Furthermore, how they describe and reflect about their mathematical teaching for these gifted students. To extend the knowledge about this topic and in regards to answering the two research questions, the study takes a qualitative approach in addition to using a sociocultural perspective of the proximal development zone, support, language, interaction, creativity and prodigies as a theoretical framework. The result of the study shows that teachers perceive different characteristics as representative characteristic of gifted students, as high memory capacity and developed mathematical thinking. Furthermore, teachers have a positive attitude towards the subject of mathematics but experience difficulties in adapting teaching for gifted students. Teachers describe methods and teaching materials that can be used. These students can be offered acceleration in teaching by working in higher grades, in groups, and with more advanced problem-solving tasks. The conclusion is therefore that teachers distinguish characteristics, organize mathematics teaching and adaptation for particular gifted students. In addition the result of the study shows that teachers also reflect on the challenges and opportunities of teaching in regards to these students.