INSET (In-Service Education and Training) and Professional Development of Teachers: A Comparison of British and Turkish Cases

This study aimed to elaborate on the practices of INSET (in-service education and training) activities based on two different countries. The UK example has been taken as the practice of a developed and more advanced system, and the Turkish example of INSET is taken as the developing one. The study is based on analysis of literature search. The study starts with a brief articulation of teachers’ needs in professional development and elaboration on possible contributions of INSET for developing teachers. Then, historical developments in INSET provision in the UK for last two decades will be considered. After that, because of the more gained attention of school-based in-service education in recent years, the school-based form of INSET, its possibilities and limitations are considered. The similar procedure follows in complementary sections in order to explain the current INSET practices in the Turkish educational system. The study concludes with some critical remarks on the issue being explored and some practical suggestions for effective INSET are made at final section.