Factors affecting the impact of inservice courses for teachers: Implications for policy

Abstract

A central component of government strategies for improving the quality of education and the implementation of new programs and policies is often the short inservice course. The context for this particular study was the National Computer Education Program in the State of Victoria, Australia. Week-long courses were provided from 1984 to 1986 for over 2,000 teachers on the applications of microcomputers in schools at a cost of approximately $2m. Policy-makers within the State Program had a second agenda: that course participants would act as “change-agents” when they returned to their schools. Teachers were surveyed up to 2 years after attending the course about the extent to which they had implemented course objectives. What had been done varied greatly from school to school and the factors which mainly accounted for this variation were the levels of administrative support and follow-up assistance teachers received after their course. The study indicates that returns from investments in inservice education by school systems will be limited if the need for such support and assistance is not anticipated; that is, if planning for policy implementation goes no further than the provision of inservice courses alone, without the orchestration of follow-up support, both from within the school and from external sources.