The Differences in Perceived Needs Between Practicing Teachers and College Instructors Concerning Inservice Education Programs in Teachers Colleges in Thailand

The purpose of this study is to identify and compare the perceptions of practicing teachers and college instructors toward four components of inservice education programs: content, organization, format of presentation, and participant involvement in the teachers colleges in Thailand. The comparison is based on the demographic variables of sex, age, educational background, and teaching experience in the institution. The "In-Service Education Attitude Survey" by Yesuratnam, Basimalla at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois in 1982 was used to gather data for this study. It was distributed to a sample of 380 practicing teachers and college instructors in 19 randomly selected teachers colleges in Thailand; 368 usable instruments were returned (97.15%). The data were treated to produce numbers and percentages. The t tests for two independent samples were computed to determine any statistically significant differences between the respondent groups of practicing teachers and college instructors, and between the practicing elementary and secondary school teachers. The F tests were also utilized to determine any statistically significant differences among the variables of practicing teachers and college instructors