A Qualitative Evaluation of an INSET Program: Perceptions, Beliefs, and Realities

Abstract

A strategic governmental investment has been made to enhance Korean English teachers’ qualifications to equip future global leaders with appropriate communication skills. The subjects of this study are 75 primary and secondary school English teachers in one of the government subsidized INSET programs in South Korea. Consequently, issues involving non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) were taken into consideration within the realm of general in-service teacher education. The evaluation adopted a process-oriented approach to highlight what is happening in the classroom area. Diverse perceptions, purposes, and objectives among stakeholders were triangulated to evaluate quality of instruction. The foreign trainer’s instructional practices in the observed course were well received by the trainees, teachers themselves, which means enhanced teaching/learning outcomes could result from the training. However, the NNESTs’ psychological trap and discrepancy among stakeholders’ beliefs were addressed as a factor that could lower the educational quality. Their relative obsessiveness with mastering the language itself seemed to diminish the potential opportunity to improve their teaching performance in general. The article underscores the way diverse quality drivers affect each other to determine an INSET program quality.