Problems encountered during the implementation of a resource room for gifted students at primary school level and measures for intervening in these problems

The present research aims at determining the problems encountered during the implementation of a resource room for gifted students at a primary school and examining the measures developed for dealing with these problems. Structured as an action research, the research project was carried out in a primary school in the Eskisehir province of Turkey. Participants of the research consisted of the school headmaster, the teacher of the resource room, gifted students attending the resource room, parents of gifted students, classroom teachers whose students attended the resource room, researchers and the members of doctoral supervision and evaluation board. Data used in the research were collected through semi-structured interview forms, audio and video recordings, observation notes, meeting minutes of the doctoral supervision and evaluation board, feedback and reflections of the teacher and the students, the researcher's diary and documents. The research data were analyzed using the systematic analysis approach. The findings obtained through this research suggest that the stakeholders in general positively evaluated the implementation of the resource room for the gifted students at the school. Despite the positive perception of the resource room, it was observed that several problems occurred because the program was carried out during regular class hours. The study showed that in order for the gifted student resource room to be efficient it should be implemented in coordination with classroom teachers and it should be managed by teachers who are expert in the field of gifted students.