The fulfillment of trainees' expectations in in-service teacher training programs

Abstract

In recent years, the importance of in-service teacher training programs has been realised for professional development. Therefore, in-service teacher training programs have been started to be established in most educational institutions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the teachers’ expectations for in service programs in two universities and whether these expectations were fulfilled or not. The research was conducted in two different institutions. 36 teacher trainees and two trainers form Çukurova University, and 12 teacher trainees and a trainer form Hacettepe University, Preparatory Schools participated in the study. Data were collected through interviews and a questionnaire. The questionnaire was administrated to teacher trainees. The in service administrators were interviewed. The questionnaire consisted of three parts and a total of 30 items. Part 1 collected demographic data. Part 2 elicited data on expectations and fulfillment of expectations. Part 3 provided open ended comment. There were ten questions in the interviews. Data from the questionnaire (part 2) were analyzed calculating frequencies and percentages in order to find out the teachers’ expectations. Then, the pairs of the questions regarding expectations and fulfillment were correlated to see whether the expectations were met or not. Data from the questionnaire (part 1, 3) and data from interviews were analyzed focusing on the question asked. The results of the study revealed that teacher trainees expect in-service teacher training programs A) to provide them new methods and trends in ELT field, B) to provide them practical teaching skills, C) to provide them theoretical information in ELT field, D) to provide activities that increase their language proficiency, E) to motivate them for further academic education, F) to encourage them to pursue their professional development outside the in-service program. Also, teacher trainees expected the administrators to provide support, time and budget them to attend in-service teacher trainig programs inside and outside the institution. They also thought that attendance in an in-service teacher trainig program should be voluntary. The fulfillment questions showed that not all expectations were met by the INSET programs.