The Islamic University- Gaza Deanery of Higher Education Faculty of ...

EvaluationEvaluation can be defined as “the systematic gathering of information for purposes of makingdecisions"(Richards, 1985, p.286) Similarly, Weir and Roberts (1994) define evaluation as:The systematic collection and analysis of all relevant informationnecessary to promote the improvement of the curriculum, andassess its effectiveness and efficiency, as well as the participants'attitudes within a context of particular institutions involved.(p.4)The researcher adopts the definition provided by Barzaq, (2007, p. 13) who definesevaluation as "The systematic acquisition and assessment of information to provide usefulfeedback about some object, programme or activity".UNRWAUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency was established in 1949 as one of UN mainagencies. This agency is concerned with Palestinian refugees, mainly in Gaza Strip, WestBank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. UNRWA main services include education, health care andsocial services. Education is UNRWA‟s top priority in Gaza; it established the EducationalDevelopment Centre which is responsible for conducting inservice training programmes.UNRWA English TeachersThroughout this study, UNRWA English teachers are referred to as trainees. They are theteachers appointed by UNRWA through fixed term contracts to teach English for Palestinestarting from grade one to the ninth grade in both primary and preparatory schools.Contemporary TrendsWithin this study, contemporary trends are used to refer to the description of the currentscene of teachers‟ inservice training. This scene involves a focus on up-to-date theories,principles, innovations, criteria and recent views of INSET. Tracing the contemporary trendswithin this study is done through surveying four main categories including, ten policy lists,ten researchers‟ lists, twelve INSET studies, and eleven countries survey.11