Understanding the impact of INSET on experienced EFL teacher learning: A case study in a Chinese context

The focus of this study concerns the impact of an in-service teacher training (INSET) course on experienced secondary school English teachers under the wide environment of educational reform in China. Although there has been increased research on the influence of Chinese educational reform on English education, the impact of INSET course on teachers and their implementation of the new curriculum was a previously unexplored area.
This qualitative multiple-case study investigated five secondary school EFL teachers throughout the INSET course and in a six-month follow-up period. Classroom observation data and interview data were collected at multiple points of time. This methodological approach introduced a longitudinal dimension to the study which enabled any possible change in teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and practice to be investigated.
Theories in teacher learning and development were used to explore the extent to which the INSET course made sense to the teachers’ professional lives. The findings indicated a lack of significant change in the teachers’ knowledge and beliefs and therefore no fundamental change in their subsequent practice to support the new curriculum. The inconsistency between the teachers’ learning outcomes and practices was mainly because their theory-learning, the focus of the INSET course, did not work as major drive for the teachers’ behavioural change. Increase in theoretical knowledge did not necessarily mean any change in concrete classroom practices even though the teachers made some short-term theory-practice application. After the INSET course the teachers mostly returned to their habitual practices which were largely influenced by their deeply-rooted prior beliefs. The relevant factors, from the INSET course and the wider context, were also examined as working elements to contribute to the lack of significant change through a context-sensitive lens. Implications for in-service teacher education and INSET course design and implementation were also drawn based on the findings.