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A group of high ability students (n = 32) described the qualities of their most effective teachers through a written essay. Analysis of the essays identified 30 different themes within four domains. These themes were used to construct a Likert scale survey and an ipsative comparison which were both administered to 42 teachers and 300 students at a secondary school for high ability female students in Singapore. Results show that, while there are similarities, there are also statistically significant differences between the qualities of effective teachers as perceived by teachers and students. In addition, the results also show that students demonstrate a preference for teachers' personality and socio-emotional qualities over their classroom management skills, thinking skills or moral and ethical qualities. (Contains 9 tables, 3 figures, and 1 footnote.)

It can be rationalised that the education of high ability students is of immense importance to society, based on the principle that many of tomorrow's pioneers within the field of science will originate from this group of individuals. Consequently, these students must be equipped with critical and creative thinking skills to fulfil their intellectually demanding roles within the field of science. One way that this might be achieved is to incorporate critical and creative thinking skills into a science programme for high ability learners. This paper reports on a quantitative study that was performed to investigate teacher and student perceptions of critical and creative thinking within a science programme for high ability females at a secondary school in Singapore. Several strong correlations were identified between teachers' classroom practice and students' critical/creative thinking within the classroom. It was also discovered that students were more likely to use critical thinking skills within a science classroom compared to any other subject, but that they were more likely to use creative thinking skills while preparing for competitions such as Future Problem Solving and Odyssey of the Mind. These findings have implications for staff development within the school and the use of classroom strategies to teach critical and creative thinking. (Contains 6 tables.)