Inservice training for primary design and technology - is it working?

This paper reports on course participants' perceptions of aspects of change in their schools as a result of participation in Grant for Education and Training (GEST) funded courses for design and technology, carried out at the Universities of Central England and Warwick. An initial trial, using both questionnaire and interview techniques, was followed by a questionnaire survey of teachers who had attended the courses during 1993 and 1994. The categories of enquiry focused on the perceptions of changes in the practice of the course participants, their colleagues and the school as a whole. Additional enquiry was made into changes in resourcing for design and technology following the course, the attitude of the head teacher towards design and technology and the provision made for dissemination of the courses in schools. Analysis of the data has made possible a comparison of the effects of course length, structure and focus on the perceptions of changes to design and technology practice in the schools surveyed. Patterns in responses are identified and analysed, and recommendations for future courses are suggested.