sustainable improvement in student learning outcomes, such courses must be designed in a way which results in a conceptual change in the participant teachers’ conception of teaching, from a teacher focused to a student focused conception. It has been shown, that on the average, teacher training courses (TTCs) do in fact obtain this result. However, two research questions remain open: What activities could be included in an effective course design? Is it possible to use TTCs as levers in educational change on a larger scale? In this study we analyse six different sets of data obtained from a comprehensive compulsory course, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the design and identify important elements. The purpose of the course goes beyond conceptual change and aims at providing participants with capabilities to participate in educational development at the programme level. Results point to elements resulting in successful integration of theory and practice, and to some success in initiating educational development. Discussions of how to assess long term effects are anticipated.