Teachers' perceptions of the impact of inservice courses and their preferences for particular models of inservice

Abstract

The need for inservice training of teachers has increased as the nature of schooling changes, and underlying philosophies, structures and theories undergo revision. An understanding of how teachers perceive inservice courses may assist in designing inservice programs which best meet the needs of education systems, schools and individual teachers.
This study examined teachers' perceptions of inservice as it affects them in their schools, and their acceptance of different content and structures of inservice models. It also examined different groups within the teacher sample, to establish whether differences in gender, the area of teaching they are involved in, their years of teaching experience, or the number of inservice courses they attend affect their perceptions.
The subjects for the study were a group of Kindergarten to Year 12 teachers from randomly sampled schools in the Western Region of New South Wales Department of School Education. The survey was completed by 304 respondents and a randomly selected sub-sample participated in a semi-structured interview.
Results of the study shows generally that teachers do value the impact of inservice courses, both in the classroom and on their own sense of professional development, and that they have preferences for particular content and models of inservice courses.

Date of Award	1993
Original language	English
Supervisor	Diana Kendall (Supervisor)