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The purpose of the study was to describe perceptions of Indiana public school teachers regarding:1. existing in-service program practices and2. effective practices for in-service programs.A questionnaire was mailed to randomly selected Indiana public school teachers employed during the 19751976 school year. Usable questionnaires were returned by 243 teachers, eighty-one percent.Data reported represented a description of the perceptions of teachers in the study as tabulated by number and percent.The following conclusions were formulated from the summary of the findings based upon teacher perceptions of effective elements for in-service programs:1. School corporations should provide teachers with in-service programs.2. In-service programs should be based upon the needs of teachers.3.Teacher needs should be determined through surveys or questionnaires.4. Teachers and administrators should have equal input in planning in-service programs.5. In-service programs should be planned for each semester as determined by the needs of the teachers.6. The duration of each session should be determined by the needs of the program.7. The most desirable time for an in-service program should be during the normal school day with released time for those attending.8. Only a qualified expert should conduct the in-service program.9. Teachers should be grouped by grade or subject interest or a combination of both.10. The in-service program should include a workshop-type session providing for teacher involvement and participation.11. Following the in-service program an evaluation of the session should be made.12. A "follow-up" program should be established to determine if in-service objectives were implemented in the classroom.

The purpose of this study was to develop a rationale for the implementation of an in-service program that would aid in the development of judgmental abilities of teachers to identify the underachieving student. The underachiever was defined as any student whose academic performance, as measured by his total grade point standing, was significantly below his ability.A review of research studies on underachievement revealed a long list of factors concomitant to underachievement. These concomitant factors were generally identified as psychological, sociological, pedagogical, or physiological in nature. Judgmental evaluations of 206 selected ninth grade students were made by classroom teachers using a sixteen item check list that was representative of the concomitant factors of underachievement as determined from the research studies. These evaluations were then compared to a statistical evaluation of the 206 students that was designed to identify academic underachievers.The research procedure was two-fold. The initial procedures were designed to identify the underachieving students within the sample population. Data were collected on 206 selected ninth grade students. I.Q. scores as determined from the SRA Test of Educational Ability, and a numerical grade point total determined from letter grades received in English, mathematics, social studies, and science provided a basis for the determination of underachievement or normal achievement.Individual I.Q. and Total Grade Point scores were converted to stanines in order to facilitate the comparison of scores. Students whose Total Grade Point stanine was two or more stanines below their I.Q. stanine were considered to be underachievers. Twelve per cent of the sample were identified as underachievers.The data indicated that the underachievers identified in this study had a slightly higher mean I.Q. score and a considerably lower Total Grade Point than the sample population. The data also indicated that students with a low I.Q. are unlikely to be statistically identified as underachievers and that those students most likely to be underachieving are in the average to above average category.The second part of the research procedure concerned the establishment of criteria that would be valid in helping the teacher identify concomitant factors of underachievement characteristically exhibited by students. The teachers were provided a rating form composed of sixteen items that were descriptive and representative of the concomitants of underachievement. The teachers rated each student on each of the concomitant factors presented on the rating form. An ascending scale of 1 - 5 was used with a rating of 5 indicating that in the teacher's judgment the student's observed behavior or situational circumstances were highly characteristic of the concomitants under consideration.A product moment correlation was determined between each of the sixteen items on the rating sheet and a point biserial correlation was computed for each of the sixteen items and underachievement. Fifteen of the items were found to have a high intercorrelation; twelve of the items were found to have a significant point biserial correlation when used by teachers as criteria for making judgmental evaluations in identifying concomitant factors of underachievement. Two other items were slightly below the critical level of significance, and two of the sixteen items had a very low correlation.A correlation of performance of the 206 students over the four classes was computed to determine if there was a significant occurrence of underachievement across subject matter lines. A significant correlation was found to exist between the dependent variable of underachievement and subject matter grades from the four classes.The concomitant factors of underachievement, as identified by research studies and as represented on the teacher rating form, were found to be helpful when used by teachers as criteria for making differential judgments of students. Recommendations for further consideration of this study, for further studies relative to the data presented in this study, and suggestions for the implementation of the major findings into the instructional program of interested school systems were included.

D.Ed. / The aim of this study is to develop a participatory strategy for the in-service training of teachers, with regard to the role and functions of role players on macro, meso and micro level. To achieve this aim, the objectives of this research are: > the exploration and description of in-service training models with regard to prerequisites of effective training and the roles and functions of stakeholders on macro, meso and micro levels. > the exploration and description of teachers' needs and expectations with regard to in-service training; > the exploration and description of trainers' (district-officers) and facilitators' (head-office provincial) perceptions of teachers' needs and expectations with regard to in-service training; and > the description of a participatory strategy for the in-service training of teachers. A qualitative approach was followed. Twelve focus group interviews were held with primary school teachers from three different districts in the Gauteng Department of Education. Individual interviews were also held with three officials from district offices and three officials from provincial head-office. From the research it was concluded that the meso level forms the core level in the in-service training of teachers. The critical aspects on meso level were the training centres. At these centres, school management teams and other teacher trainers should be trained on a macro level. These teacher trainers train their teachers in school training committees, consisting of school principals and their management, teachers and other partners. It also recommended that centres are the most effective way of disseminating information to schools. School management teams and teacher trainers in turn disseminate information to their schools. Where a school or teacher experience difficulty they could either consult their school training committees or refer to the centres for assistance. Another important conclusion is that for this participatory strategy to be effective, school principals should accept teacher development as part of their management v responsibilities. This strategy is based on teacher involvement on all levels from policy formulation right down to the planning and implementation of in-service training. Another important aspect of this strategy is for the education authorities to place a teacher trainer at every centre to assist with planning and training if this approach is to be successfully implemented. It was also established that partnerships with other role players formed an important aspect of this strategy.

M.Ed. / Trainers at engineering training centres mostly come from industry and consequently they seldom have experience of teaching or the necessary qualifications to teach. As the educational profession has no formal and compulsory induction into the profession, trainers are put directly into class and are expected to teach. Although these trainers have the required subject knowledge, they definitely lack the necessary didactical skills or methodology of education. Due to "swim-or-sink" attitude, trainers experience unique problems, placing them under tremendous pressure and stress. With this study, an attempt is made to establish guidelines for a workable programme, for the in-service training of the trainers. At present, technology develops rapidly and knowledge expands at a breath taking rate. Therefore the trainer must stay a lifelong learner. The constant change and renewal of training methods, skills and techniques can only be addressed by effective in-service training. The following aspects should figure prominently in any in-service training programme: staff development; induction; skills and techniques; coaching; staff and relations; the practice. In order to put into practice, a workable in-service training programme, the following operational programmes were studied: staff development; induction; mentoring; coaching. The purpose of in-service training is the improvement of the quality of training, the effective execution of administrative tasks and the continuous upgrading of knowledge of technological and educational development.

The purpose of this paper is to set forth some problems in education that give rise to the need for teachers to learn and grow in professional service. Involved in this task is the development of the concept that the maximum growth and development of professional educators is best facilitated through the democratic processes of group work. Some selected activities of supervision that contribute to the development of training programs are discussed. / Typescript. / "July, 1951." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: Dora Skipper, Major Professor. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 35-37).

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Traditional professional development approaches to assist teachers to implement the new curriculum in South Africa have come under criticism. This is because these do not provide the ongoing, context sensitive support that teachers need to improve their practice. This has raised the importance of situating teacher learning within the school context. This study explored how a group of teachers gave meaning to and expressed their understanding of themselves and their experience of school-based professional development. The purpose of the study was to understand the nature of school-based professional development at an FET school. In attempting to address the research questions, this study adopted a qualitative, interpretive approach. Since human interaction and context are important in the qualitative interpretative study, the tenets of symbolic interactionism were drawn on to guide this research study. This study also drew on the concepts of situated learning theory, which stresses the importance of context and therefore supports, the notion that learning opportunities should be grounded in environments where problems arise. This was a case study of a secondary peri-urban school in KwaZulu-Natal. lt involved three teachers who were purposefully selected. Data was gathered through three qualitative methods i.e. observation, interviews and a reflective journal. A process of open coding was used to analyse and interpret data. Findings reveal that the school did recognise the importance of schools as places where teachers can learn. However, the contextual factors such as inside politics, staff relations within the school, as well as the way management handled their role in managing professional development in the school made it a challenge to organise and promote collective teacher learning. lt further reveals that as a result of the difficulties and inconsistency of the official professional development programme, teacher learning was in fact taking place in various other ways. These included department meetings';-infQr:mal-teacher collaboration and mentoring. The study also reveals that various contextual factors affected curriculum development implementation. These included a lack of resources, large classes and learners' backgrounds. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.