In-service Education of Pre-school and Primary School Teachers in Teacher Centres. An Evaluation Model

In-service education is an essential requirement for professional teaching development. Along with other training providers, teacher centres (or centres under similar names in the different autonomous communities) have fulfilled their role of detecting and meeting teachers' training needs since their inception over twenty years ago. The goal of this project was to identify the relationship between training supply and demand and how it corresponds with teachers' professional development and that of the schools in their area of influence, using an evaluation model designed specifically for this purpose. This evaluation research was structured in three stages: a) documentary analysis of the regulatory framework for ongoing teacher training and the characteristics of the training offered; b) a qualitative study using in-depth interviews of key reporting agents and discussion groups with management teams and pre-school and primary school teachers and c) on-site observation in four schools that provide training programmes. For each of these stages, different evaluation instruments were designed and quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques were applied. The debate over the professionalisation of consultants, consulting models, the changes that must take place in the training culture of teachers and training centres and the need to rethink training methods so that they meet new educational demands are the main topics the conclusions address.