International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), cilt.8, sa.2, ss.762-777, 2021 (Hakemli Dergi)
Taking into consideration the INSETs’ direct influence on teachers’ professional
development and indirect influence on the education, the present study aims to find out
teachers’ views about in -service training activities and their proposed solutions to improve
the effectiveness of the in-service training activities through the semi- structured and in-depth
interviews. Moreover, the latest statistics of in-service trainings in Turkey was examined with
holistic and critical approach. 59 teachers from three different types of school (primary,
secondary, junior high school) in Turkey participated in the study. Data were collected
through a semi-structured interview, and analyzed through content analysis by searching for
patterns and synthesizing them. NVivo 8 was used to code the transcriptions and to derive
broader themes shaped around core meanings and then to group together (Miles &
Huberman, 1994). While the most useful aspects of in-service training programs are found as
professional development, meeting new people and professional development, weaknesses of
in-service training programs are poor planning, lack of qualified trainers and lack of practical
implications according to teacher opinions. Teachers suggested that employing expert
trainers, effective planning and more interactive contents are crucial for an ideal INSET
activity. The study concludes with possible reasons for the problems in concern, and practical
implications.