Conceptions and profiles of primary school teachers about intelligence
The significance of teachers’ conceptions of intelligence has often been raised in literature but rarely explored empirically. By focussing on different streams of research covering the notion of intelligence and its development, this research seeks to examine the conceptions of intelligence among primary school teachers in France using a questionnaire and focussing on two complementary issues : first, we analyse the structure of teachers’ conceptions using factor analysis (exploratory and confirmatory), and secondly, we use typological analyses to examine how teachers position themselves as regards the conceptions identified. Results show that teachers conceptualise intelligence on the basis of five distinct dimensions which they combine in order to integrate them into their personal position. The significance of these findings as well as the utility of the questionnaire developed to understand the conceptions of intelligence among teachers are discussed at the end of this contribution.