Evaluating effect of the education program developed for teachers of special talented students who are attending the Science and Art Center (BİLSEM) on their professional competency perceptions

In this research, it was aimed to determine the effect of the "BILSEM Teachers Professional Competence Training Program (BIMYEP)", developed for teachers of special talented students attending the Science and Art Center (BILSEM), on teachers' perceptions of professional competence. In line with the general purpose of the research, answers were sought to the following three questions: (1) What are the opinions of BILSEM teachers regarding their professional competencies in the field of special talents' education? (2) Is BIMYEP effective on BILSEM teachers' perception of professional competence? (3) What are the opinions of teachers participating in BIMYEP regarding the impact of the training program they participated in on their professional competencies? The method of the research is an exploratory sequentially mixed research method in which both qualitative and quantitative research methods are carried out together. In the first part of the research, semi-structured interviews were held with 30 teachers working in BILSEMs in different provinces in order to determine the competence perceptions of BILSEM teachers in the field of education of special talented students and the educational needs related to this field in order to increase their professional competence perceptions. The data obtained from these interviews were analyzed with descriptive analysis. In the second stage of the research, the "Professional Competency Perception Scale of Teachers Working with Special Talents (OZCOMEY-A Scale)" was developed to determine the professional competence perceptions of teachers working at BILSEM regarding the education of special talented students. At this stage of the research, a pretest-posttest control group experimental research model was applied. The participants in the experimental phase of the research are 28 BILSEM teachers, 14 teachers in the experimental group and 14 teachers in the control group. Before the application of "BILSEM Teachers Professional Competence Training Program (BIMYEP)" and after the application of the training program to the teachers in the experimental group, the "OZCOMEY-A Scale" was applied to both groups and the quantitative data of the research were obtained. Mann-Whitney U Test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test were used in the analysis of quantitative data. In the last stage of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the teachers in the experimental group to whom BIMYEP was applied. A semi-structured interview form was used in these interviews. During the interviews, the opinions of the teachers in the experimental group were taken on whether there was an increase in their perception of professional competence after their participation in BIMYEP and on the development and improvement of the training program. Interviews with BILSEM teachers who participated in the experimental group were analyzed with descriptive analysis. As a result of the research, the post-test scores of the teachers in the experimental group who participated in the program were found to be significantly higher than those in the control group who did not participate. While there was no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the teachers in the control group, the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the teachers in the experimental group was significantly high. As a result, it was determined that the program was effective on the perception of teacher efficacy. In addition, according to the opinions of the teachers in the experimental group who participated in BIMYEP, from the interviews conducted with the teachers after the training program, it was concluded that the teacher training program increased their perception of professional competence in the field of education of special talented students. In the light of the experiences gained in the research, some suggestions for practice and further research were made.