Fostering technopedagogical and social-emotional competencies in teachers of gifted primary students

This study examined the effects of a technopedagogical professional development programme, implemented within a nationally funded project in Türkiye, on teachers supporting gifted primary students' social-emotional development. Using an embedded mixed-methods design with quantitative predominance, 30 classroom teachers selected via purposive sampling completed the Educational Technology Standards Self-Efficacy Scale (ETSSE) and the Social-Emotional Competence Teacher Rating Scale (SECTRS) pre- and post-programme, alongside thematically analysed End-of-Day Evaluation Forms. Paired-samples t-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed significant improvements across all ETSSE dimensions with large effect sizes, and across all SECTRS subscales with moderate-to-large effect sizes, except Student–Teacher Relationship. Thematic analysis identified five themes: heightened social-emotional awareness, technopedagogical tool experience, instructional design competence, enhanced professional self-efficacy, and collegial collaboration. These preliminary findings suggest that integrating technopedagogy with social-emotional learning in professional development can strengthen teacher competencies and pedagogical sensitivity in gifted education, though longitudinal, controlled studies are needed to confirm sustainability and generalisability.