This article draws on research in a Norwegian municipality to examine the affective aspects of teaching gifted students and to explore how systemic and cultural norms surrounding gifted education in Norway may shape teachers' perceptions and practices. Teacher well-being is a concern for educational quality and sustainability, yet in gifted education, it is often overlooked. Giftedness refers to a high ability to learn faster, more complex or in greater depth than same-age peers when adequately supported. In Norway, teachers face contradictory signals concerning teaching the gifted: definitional ambiguity, limited training, strong egalitarian norms that make giftedness a contested category, and, at the same time, a strong principle of inclusive adapted education for all. Those combined may lead to ethical tensions that challenge teachers' professional integrity and well-being. Such conditions can reduce teachers' handlingsrom, meaning their space (room) for professional agency, within institutional, cultural, and policy frameworks. To investigate how such pressures shape teacher's well-being, this study synthesises findings from four interrelated sub-studies conducted within a single research project on gifted education. Using a meta-ethnographic approach, we translated and integrated insights from the sub-studies to develop higher-order constructs not visible in the individual analyses. The synthesis identified three key dynamics: conceptual ambiguity, ethical strain under cross-pressure, and buffers as recalibrators of demands and resources. Together, these insights informed the Cross-Pressure Model for Teacher Well-being (CP-Well Model) developed in this study, which positions teacher integrity at the centre of professional well-being. We argue that teacher well-being in gifted education may depend less on individual resilience and more on systemic, cultural, and policy conditions. Addressing these cross-pressures requires structural change, supportive leadership, and sustained professional development to enable teachers to work with integrity.

In Norway, there are few funded programmes focusing on students with high learning potential, and students are taught in ‘regular’ schools and classes, alongside their age peers. Therefore, every teacher is potentially a teacher of gifted children and students. International research activity in the field of gifted education often has a focus on the gifted child or on programme interventions and evaluation, but little research explores teacher well-being and confidence to teach gifted students. This study focuses on teachers’ own experiences and practices in the context of gifted education. Further, we seek to explore how Norwegian teachers’ well-being and professional integrity are linked to their perceptions of their own competence and pedagogical practices in the field. The research questions are: How do Norwegian teachers describe their competence and pedagogical practices in the context of gifted education? How might this influence their occupational well-being? The study is based on a digital survey of teachers from grades 1 to 10 in a small Norwegian municipality, with 432 teachers from 17 schools, and includes responses to open questions. The analysis approach is content analysis, and survey data was interrogated for data that especially aligned with teacher professional practice. 

This presentation topic outlines recent remarkable gifted education policy and research changes in Sweden. We outline a) Swedish cultural ambition for egalitarianism and traditional social negativity toward giftedness; b) policy and leadership changes within the last 10 years in Sweden at national and municipal levels; c) an overview of recent research grants and publications from Sweden, including a doctoral programme funded at approx. 37 million Euro; and d) implications for psychological wellbeing of gifted students and teachers. The aim of the presentation is to share a sense of optimism for gifted students and the teaching community which we hope can be useful to others. Lewin’s Force Field Theory plays a useful role in our analysis of factors such as alignment of policy and public agenda, and global-local needs. Our methodology includes historical review, literature review, and narrative. The findings of our reviews are that: gifted education can operate alongside ‘one school for all’ philosophy’; research plays an important role in evidence-based discussions; and investment in needed for teacher professional learning and local innovations. Our conclusions are that change operates on many levels and when social forces align, horizons expland and significant positive change is possible.

In 2023 the first large ECHA training started in Sweden, and in Scandinavia, through Karlstad University. In this presentation we will share how this program for an ECHA certificate is arranged. An important part is the so called Treffekt® which is an agreement between Karlstad University, the employer, and the participant of the training. Through Treffekt® the school leaders agree on supporting the participant throughout the training, and to plan for how to use the new competence. The training for an ECHA certificate is divided into three courses (15  ECTS). The first course is theory building in which the participants read, discuss and have workshops on different themes relating to high ability. In the second course they plan for an upcoming research study. In the final course the participants implement their study and scientifically explore their outcomes. The product is a scientific report about the study. We expect those products to become rich material that also benefits other schools and regions in Sweden and perhaps also for other countries. Ongoing offerings of the courses and collation of these reports will contribute to a valued body of work which in turn can transform local policy and practice.

This study explores how assessment is presented in Swedish early years’ steering documents and considers risks for young gifted students in relation to assessment (or lack thereof). Document analysis was undertaken on, firstly, Swedish curriculum documents for the preschool and for the compulsory school, and secondly, mapping materials used in the preschool class with six-year-old children. Results show that assessment is not a term used in Swedish early years curricula. Instead, preschool teachers are asked to evaluate their own practice; preschool class teachers are asked to engage with mapping and only to consider working toward later assessment goals in year 3 of school. A plethora of alternative assessment terms are used in the curriculum without definition. Giftedness is also invisible in the curriculum. However, the mapping materials used with six-year-old students in the subject areas of mathematics and Swedish do encourage teachers to consider children who achieve mastery early. Further, these materials provide supportive questions and activities for teachers to use in exploring further. The specific examples of assessment discourses and the need to consider gifted children are combined in this article to highlight aspects of teacher work that are important for the educational rights of an often-forgotten group of learners.

Giftedness is a special education need that can receive more attention in Nordic early years’ education. Here, we draw upon examples provided in early years’ research literature and on a new narrative example of practice to illustrate inclusive and responsive teaching possibilities where gifted children’s special learning needs are acknowledged. Gifted children have a need for specific cognitive support and a need for social and emotional support. Specific strategies to account for such support include curriculum differentiation, higher-order questioning, partnerships, and opportunities to work with like-minded peers. Through a framework for engaging with gifted education in the early years titled SPARK, with the elements support, policy, awareness, relationships, and knowledge, giftedness in inclusive education is illustrated and discussed. The elements were inclusively integrated in the everyday context of a Swedish preschool that caters for children with various abilities and needs. There is a policy mandate for teachers to engage with gifted education in Sweden; however, it is largely implicit, and more work is required before the special needs of gifted children are explicitly recognised.

This article presents the concept of internationalisation and explores related discourses within the context of early childhood education. The provision of educational experiences for children prior to commencing school can be understood and enacted in many ways and such provision is typically country- and culture-specific. This article elaborates on the variation within which early childhood education opportunities are afforded to children and understood in the profession. Four qualitative, autobiographical narratives explore intercultural practices in New Zealand and Sweden, using aspects of Sorrell's (2016) intercultural framework to illustrate how internationalism links to early childhood education teacher education. The model's six key elements of (i) inquiry, (ii) framing, (iii) positioning, (iv) dialogue (v) reflection and (vi) action inform our perceptions and experiences as early childhood educators, and the influence of internationalisation on practice.

Course materials in teacher education programmes are one of the means to support student teachers to learn content knowledge and pedagogical theories. The materials are chosen to support their learning in a range of areas, and this article presents the findings of a study that explored how Swedish preschool student teachers perceived their course materials in relation to internationalisation and intercultural practice. Questionnaires were administered to students in a preschool teacher education at a Swedish university through the Survey and Report tool, and 94 students responded. Findings indicate that the responding student teachers valued content and materials for three key reasons: (i) materials that were localised, (ii) practice-oriented, and (iii) prepared them for working specifically in Swedish preschools. Identity as a Swedish preschool teacher (Swedish context and preschool teaching focus) appeared to be of greater influence in determining the responding students’ value of content than the higher education goals of globalisation and internationalisation.