Transformational Leadership Using TED Talks

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate about the efficacy of professional development with the field of gifted education. While some studies have found a positive relationship between professional development and teachers’ knowledge and attitudes toward gifted students, others found that such training had no effect on teachers’ attitudes toward the gifted or gifted education in general, but the trained teachers were more likely to perceive themselves as gifted than teachers who had no professional development. To address this issue, this article proposes a new professional development paradigm, anchored by TED talks. Educational leaders can become more effective by learning from leaders in other disciplines. The leaders highlighted in the article demonstrate the importance of a shared purpose. Professional development in the gifted education field should focus on a shared purpose that highlights the importance of increasing the expectations and engagement of all, not just gifted, students. TED can offer inspiration on how teachers can take an active role in this purpose and then how they can share the results of their efforts.