This paper describes some salient aspects of inservice education that focus on constructivist learning/conceptual change. Major issues for inservice education based on the constructivist approach are described. These issues arise from viewing teachers as constructivist learners, and from the assumption that constructivism and conceptual change need to be considered in the saw: way for both teachers and students. The following assumptions are contained in the constructivist theory of learning: (1) inservice education that matters involves conceptual charge on the part of teachers; (2) when the thrust of the inservice program is towards constructivist perspectives on teaching and student learning, the change involves teachers’ conceptions of learning and teaching; (3) conceptual change in teachers is most helpfully considered in terms of whether or not new ideas are intelligible, plausible, fruitful, and feasible; (4) the conceptions held by teachers on entering an inservice program will sometimes include ideas and beliefs about the focus of the program which are in conflict with the ideas and beliefs of those running the program; (5) the inservice must, wherever possible, model but not mimic the strategies and ideas being advanced; (6) different groups will enter inservice programs with different levels of relevant knowledge and experience; and (7) those conducting the inservice program must be sensitive to their own needs to undergo conceptual change. Descriptions of four inservice programs illustrate how one or more of these issues arose and was dealt with in the course of the program.

Key words: attitude change, cognitive dissonance, concept, formation, foreign countries, inservice teacher education, learning processes, program attitudes, teacher attitudes.

This study was undertaken in a European Comenius Project designed to understand teachers” perceptions of the origins of school failure in France, Spain and Ireland. It includes empirical work on how teachers in each country think about what is important in determining school failure and what teachers can do to remedy failure. The social contexts in each country vary and these differences provide teachers in each country to reflect on their own practices in classrooms with pupils in difficulty. The work implicitly refers to a constructivist model developed by Ernst von Glasersfeld in which ways teachers think about their jobs is the result of their experiences in their own educational systems and determines their approach to their professional activities. Relevance: This book described a cross national project to help children with learning difficulties. It should be of interest to constructivists as it includes data about the ways teachers in the different participating countries think about the best way to help children in difficulty. In each country the approaches are different, constrained partly by their own perceptions of what is possible within the constraints in their respective countries.

Key words: Teacher attitudes, models of teaching, special needs, children