Journal of In-Service Education

ISSN: 0305-7631 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjie18

A Note on School‐Based Inset

Lloyd Logan

To cite this article: Lloyd Logan (1988) A Note on School‐Based Inset, Journal of In-Service
Education, 14:3, 160-161, DOI: 10.1080/0305763880140306

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0305763880140306

Published online: 12 Sep 2006.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 1994

View related articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

These comments are prompted by a study of 14 forming the thinking and practice of INSET in
school-based INSET programmes conducted in Australia since 1973.
government and non-government primary and During the analysis of the 14 case accounts for
secondary schools in Queensland, Australia. A case common and distinguishing design characteristics,
account of each programme was compiled by an in- it became evident that the description school-based
dependent writer. The 14 accounts were then glossed over or concealed two significant aspects
treated as data by the researcher and analysed for of inservice education at the school level. One was
design characteristics, ideology and learning prin- the ideological imperatives informing each programme,
ciples (Logan 1987). The analysis raised questions the other, the centrality of experience as the bon-
about the further value of 'school based' as an ding factor.
organizing concept for the practice and study of in-
service education. Ideological orientation
School-based teacher development activities in
School based movement this study did not label, as the term might suggest,
The term 'school-based' came into the language a single ideological position on the desired ends and
of professional development from the school-based means of INSET. Ideologically, two distinct consti-
curriculum movement. Since the 1960's 'school- tuencies are evident in the case accounts. For one
based' applied to INSET, curriculum and evaluation INSET offers the opportunities and the vehicle to
has been a slogan attractive equally to ad- revise radically the purposes, processes and ends
ministrators, teachers and academics. For inservice of schooling within the compass of wider social
education it promised to administrators economies revision. For the other, by far the dominant, it is
of accommodation, travel and release costs; to the means to improve the effectiveness of present
teachers the means to control the goals, content schooling practices in order to achieve current
and processes of their own professional develop- social economic and cultural ends. Within these
ment; and to academics opportunities to research broad orientations three specific ideological
new practices. stances, in the terms of Burrell and Morgan (1979),
Some of this promise has been met and the case were identified as functionalist, interpretivist and
accounts echo other records of the changed prac- radical humanist (Logan 1987, 195ff).
tice and governance of INSET over the past 15 Identifying the ideological dimension of INSET
years in Australia (e.g. Skilbeck, Evans and Harvey draws attention to the social and political aspects
1977; Batten 1979; Coulter and Ingvarson 1985; of teacher development, and provides a means to
Sachs and Logan 1987). These changes include an link teacher development theory and practice with
emphasis on meeting the 'practicality ethic' (Doyle social theory. In terms of practice, a requirement
and Ponder 1977), confidence in the worth of col- to explicate and justify ideological assumptions
leagues as a source of professional advice, use of motivating participation in a programme both
problem solving collaborative learning processes, strengthens planning and execution, and decreases
longer term access to on-demand and structured the likelihood of disillusionment and disaffiliation
support, self-directed and self-provided programs, during the course of the programme Taken together,
negotiated employment of consultants, use of these two aspects, one theoretical the other prac-
classroom observation and feedback, evaluation tical, are both means to gain insights into the
focused on performance rather than performer, and teachers' role in the generation and validation of
the recognition by teachers of the need for profes- personal and collective professional knowledge
sional development. Certainly not all of the changes constructs, as well as insights into the school's role
in the management, planning and evaluation of in- in the generation and validation of social
service education are attributable to the school- knowledge.
based thrust, but it has been a major concept in-

160
Experience tivities were analysed in terms of Kolb's construct
The place of experience in the programs was the to experiential learning.
second issue raised by the analyses of the design
features. The accounts suggest that it might be Conclusion
counterproductive to associate professional learn- 'School-based' has been a major concept shap-
ing so closely with a specific site, in this instance ing the thinking and practice of inservice education.
the school, since it suggests distinctive practices The term describes a pot-pourrie of principles and
and theory peculiar to that setting. Neither the case practices clustered loosely by their location in
accounts nor the teacher development literature school and a practical orientation. This study sug-
support the existence of distinctive school-based gests that the meaning and value of 'school-based'
practices and theories. On the contrary, learning as an organizing concept has been blurred. Conti-
procedures described in the case accounts reflect nuing to use the term to describe the pot-pourri of
the principles of adult learning theorists such as INSET activities that occur in schools has at least
Knowles (1978) and Sprinthall and Thies-Sprinthall two limiting effects. One is that it tends to inhibit
(1983) and the procedures identified by Joyce and relating school-based INSET to wider theories of
Showers (1980) review of effective staff training professional development and to theories of social
in industry, commerce, agriculture and the military. development. The other is that it inhibits the ex-
To place overtly teacher professional development amination of aspects of INSET which could benefit
study and practice within a broad theoretical both theory and practice. The ideological orienta-
framework and set of processes rather than to pro- tion, and the character of learning processes with
secute it as a distinct entity promises a firmer foun- their related forms of knowledge are two such
dation for both practice and theory development. aspects pf INSET identified in this study through
using experience rather than location as the
The significant element common to teacher organizing concept for inquiry. With this in mind,
development activities identified in this study is in- professional experiential learning, independent of
dividual and collective experience. Taking ex- locative limitations, is a promising organising con-
perience rather than location as the organising cept on which to base further practice and study.
focus promises benefits such as people transfor-
ming their environment is made the central focus,
teacher development is located within the broader
theories of adult development and professional lear- References
ning, partitioning professional development by loca- Batten, M.A. 1979 National Evaluation of Development Program.
tion, process and end (e.g. school-instruction, Schools Commission, Canberra.
formal-informal award non-award) is avoided, and Burrell, G. and Morgan, G. (1979) Sociological Paradigms and
integrating technical and affective aspects of in- Organisational Analysis. Heinemann, London.
dividual and collective professional development is Coulter, F. and Ingvarson, L. (1985) Professional Development and
the Improvement of Schooling: Roles and Responsibilities. A
promoted. Report to the Commonwealth Schools Commission, AGPS,
Kolb (1985) describes experiential learning Canberra.
as 'a program for profoundly re-creating our per- Doyle, W.W. and Ponder, G.A. 1977 'The Practicality Ethic in Teacher
Decision Makng', Interchange 8(3), 1-12.
sonal lives and social system'. Kolb's schema of
Joyce, B. and Showers, S. 1980. 'Improving inservice training: The
experiential learning was used to interpret the ex- message of research'. Educational Leadership 37(5), 379-385.
periences described in the accounts as learning pro- Knowles, M. 1978. The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (2nd ed.)
cesses. This analysis illustrated that concrete ex- Gulf Publishing Co. Houston.
prience and active experimentation were the domi- Kolb, D. 1985. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of
nant modes leading to accommodative knowledge Learning and Development. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey.
and imitation. Reflection was mainly of the
Logan, L.D. 1987. Teacher Based School Experiential Learning.
technical and practical forms in Smyth's (1986) Queensland Inservice Education Committee, Brisbane.
terms, and a limited range of learning styles was Sachs, J. and Logan, L.D. 1987. Professional Development in
catered for. Finally the tasks appeared to offer a Queensland From Retrospect to Retrospect. Department of
relatively low level of cognitive challenge. Education, University of Queensland, St. Lucia.
Skilbeck, M., Evans, G. and Harvey, J . 1977. In-Service Education
The diversity of learning processes and the in- and Training Australian Innovations. Curriculum Development
tensity of professional challenge which appeared Centre, Canberra.
to characterise the school-based INSET described Sprinthall, N. and Thies-Sprinthall, L. 1983. 'The teacher as an adult
in these 14 programs disappeared when the ac- learner: a cognitive development view' in G. Griffin (ed.) Staff
Development 82nd Yearbook of the NSSE. Part II. University of
Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 13-35.

161