This paper analyzes acceleration in education as a practice for meeting the educational needs of gifted students, and points out favorable and unfavorable arguments on the use of this practice. Acceleration is an educational practice consisting of several teaching strategies designed to encourage academically gifted students and reduce their time spent in school. It promotes faster learning by matching the curriculum to the student’s level of knowledge, interest and motivation. There are several arguments in favor of acceleration, such as the improvement of academic performance, self-esteem and student’s social adjustment. However, educators are reluctant to implement this practice, arguing that students may be immature or lose part of the content of the regular curriculum.

This study aimed to compare the perception of gifted and non-gifted students with respect to the climate for creativity in the classroom, in the disciplines of Mathematics and Portuguese Language, and to investigate the relationship between creativity and perception of classroom climate for creativity. Twenty-one gifted and 27 non-gifted 6th grade students who attended a public school in Brazil participated in the study. The gifted students evaluated teacher’s support to the students’ expression of ideas in Mathematics in a more satisfactory way compared to non-gifted, and they also showed greater interest in learning Mathematics in comparison to Portuguese Language. A positive correlation between creativity and perception of classroom climate was found for gifted students, and negative correlation for non-gifted students.

No presenta resumen.

No presenta resumen

This study aimed to compare the perception of gifted and non-gifted students with respect to the climate for creativity in the classroom, in the disciplines of Mathematics and Portuguese Language, and to investigate the relationship between creativity and perception of classroom climate for creativity. Twenty-one gifted and 27 non-gifted 6th grade students who attended a public school in Brazil participated in the study. The gifted students evaluated teacher’s support to the students’ expression of ideas in Mathematics in a more satisfactory way compared to non-gifted, and they also showed greater interest in learning Mathematics in comparison to Portuguese Language. A positive correlation between creativity and perception of classroom climate was found for gifted students, and negative correlation for non-gifted students.

This paper analyzes acceleration in education as a practice for meeting the educational needs of gifted students, and points out favorable and unfavorable arguments on the use of this practice. Acceleration is an educational practice consisting of several teaching strategies designed to encourage academically gifted students and reduce their time spent in school. It promotes faster learning by matching the curriculum to the student’s level of knowledge, interest and motivation. There are several arguments in favor of acceleration, such as the improvement of academic performance, self-esteem and student’s social adjustment. However, educators are reluctant to implement this practice, arguing that students may be immature or lose part of the content of the regular curriculum.