Investigation of preschool teachers' perceptions of specially talented children and their emotional intelligence levels

The aim of the study was to develop the Perception Scale on Gifted Children and conduct a validity-reliability study, and to examine preschool teachers' perceptions of gifted children and their emotional intelligence levels. The population of the research consists of pre-school teachers working in independent kindergartens, nursery classes and private kindergartens affiliated with Burdur Provincial Directorate of National Education. The sample of the research consisted of a total of 312 teachers who agreed to participate in the research voluntarily. "Personal Information Form", "Perception Scale for Children with Special Abilities" and "Rotterdam Emotional Intelligence Scale" were used as data collection tools in the research. As a result of the research, the Perception Scale on Children with Special Abilities was found to be valid and reliable, and the perceptions of preschool teachers about children with special abilities and gender, age, marital status, having children, educational status, professional seniority, working age group, class size. , working with specially talented children and receiving education on specially talented children; It was found that there was a significant difference between emotional intelligence and gender, marital status, having children, educational status, professional seniority, working age group, class size, working with specially talented children, and receiving training on specially talented children (p<. 05). Additionally, it was found that there was a positive and significant relationship between preschool teachers' perceptions of gifted children and their emotional intelligence levels. Key Words: Special Talent, Emotional Intelligence, Preschool Teacher, Scale Development.