Abstract
The study focuses on identifying the actual level of tutoring competencies formed among psychology students for working with gifted children, and on substantiating the feasibility of their purposeful development within university-level professional training. Methodology and Methods. At the theoretical level, an analytical review of domestic and foreign psychological and pedagogical literature on giftedness, tutoring, and professional training of educational psychologists was conducted. The empirical basis consisted of a pilot survey of 37 third-year students enrolled in a Pedagogy and Psychology program at a University. The questionnaire comprised four closed-ended items diagnosing awareness of tutoring support, understanding of gifted children’s needs, self-assessment of professional readiness, and attitudes toward the necessity of specialized training. Results. A clear contradiction was recorded between students’ intuitive understanding of the specific characteristics of gifted children and their actual unreadiness to apply tutoring technologies in practice. The overwhelming majority of respondents rated the existing training program as insufficiently ensuring the formation of the relevant competencies. Scientific Novelty. The theoretical foundations of tutoring support for gifted children have been systematized and analyzed for the first time within the context of professional training of educational psychologists. Practical Significance. The findings provide a rationale for the purposeful incorporation of tutoring competencies into professional training content and may be applied in designing specialized courses and programs aimed at building readiness among future educational psychologists for working with gifted children within higher professional education.