Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This survey aimed to establish the views and needs of a representative sample of teachers in each of three counties concerning in-service training.

Main Topics:

Attitudinal/Behavioural Questions The survey opens with general questions about factors which influence the teacher's wish to attend present in-service training courses (i.e. whether they are felt to be necessary or valuable for personal or professional reasons, whether type of training and topics offered are relevant, ease with which replacement teachers can be found and size of grants offered etc.). An investigation of individual circumstances which make attendance at courses difficult is followed by an examination of respondent views on current methods (i.e. type of meetings and instruction, size and catchment area of groups, degree of formality, geographical location requiring residence away from home, teachers and instructors chosen etc.). Respondent recommendations for method priorities for the future as well as priorities in teacher group orientation are given. General opinion on availability of information on courses and types of information received and desired together with individual willingness to participate under full-time secondment schemes of various sorts is recorded. The respondent's past participation in training schemes is elicited, along with a general assessment of its value to him in his teaching after completion. Details of his participation in discussions of general educational questions are gathered, and a final question asks for a personal definition of 'curriculum' and of 'teaching methods'. Background Variables Age cohort, sex, professional status, approximate full-time teaching experience, type of school in which now teaching, marital status, number of dependents and teaching post held. Further grouping under: returners (with breaks in service, refresher courses taken), late entrants to profession (teaching after five years in another profession, training taken in relation to job now held) and part-time teachers (proportion of time allotted to school, number of schools taught in).

Stratified by geographical area within county, size and type of school

Postal survey