Decentralising Curriculum Reform: the link teacher model of in‐service training

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a case‐study of a decentralised model of teacher in‐service training: a variant of the ‘train the trainer’ model called the link teacher model. This model was used to prepare teachers in Western Australia for the implementation of a new senior physics syllabus. Several issues are dealt with in the paper: the perceived effectiveness of the model, the role of the link teachers, support from the central authority, recognition for the time and work required, and opportunities for teachers to experiment with new strategies. The paper concludes that by combining centralised syllabus change with decentralised implementation strategies, the model shows some promise as a vehicle for curriculum reform.