Professional Documents
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FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION I
(LPP 1113)
MICROTEACHING SKILLS
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Definition of Microteaching
There are no fixed definition of microteaching has yet been given. The microteaching
approach facilitates the shaping of a teacher who is insensitive to his teaching behavior.
According to Allen and Ryan, microteaching is an idea with five essential propositions.
Microteaching is a real teaching. Firstly, microteaching lessens the complexities of normal
classroom teaching so that class size, scope of content and time are all reduced. Secondly,
focuses on training for accomplishment of specific tasks such as practice of instructional skills,
demonstration of teaching method, practice of techniques of teaching, and others. Thirdly,
microteaching allows for the increased control of practice. The rituals of time, students,
supervision, and many other factors can be manipulated and greatly expands the feedback
dimensions in teaching. Immediately after teaching a brief micro-lesson, the trainee engages in a
critique of his classroom performance.
This skill is concerned with methods of preparing classes for a lesson, that is pre-instructional orientation.
Students practice methods of starting lessons.
The third skill in microteaching is skill of stimulus variation. Most people are able to
learn about the world around them via their five senses which is sight, sound, taste, touch and
smell. Unfortunately, educators sometimes forget to use as many of five senses as possible.
Training in the skills of stimulus variation is aimed at helping student teachers to avoid teaching
styles likely to induce boredom in their pupils. A stimulus situation that changes in different
ways is one of the most powerful influences in maintaining orienting activity by the pupils.
Carefully structured teaching material and approaches to the subject can have an important effect
here, but so can the way a teacher conducts his lesson.
Stimulus variation, in the Stanford sense, focuses mainly on the latter. Some of the things
the student teacher is trained in are the use of movement in a systematic way and the avoidance
of teaching from one spot, the use of gestures, and the development of verbal and non-verbal
methods of focusing children's attention, the development of teaching methods other than the
teacher monologue by encouraging pupil participation, the systematic use of pauses, and the
controlled use of different sensory channels by switching primary modes of communication,
going, for example, from the oral to the visual.
For the success of any lesson, it is essential to secure and sustain the attention of the
pupils-learning is optimum when the pupils are fully attentive to the teaching-learning process.
How to secure and sustain the attention is main theme of this skill. It is known on the basis of
psychological experiments that attention of the individual tends to shift from one stimulus to
other very quickly. It is very difficult for an individual to attend to the same stimulus for more
than a few seconds. Therefore, for securing and sustaining the attention of the pupils to the
lesson it is imperative to make variations in the stimulus. This is because attention is the
necessary pre-requisite for learning.
The components of skill involved are:
i. Movements
ii. Gestures
v. Focusing
vi. Pausing
The meaning and purpose of these components in the context of the skill of stimulus variation
will be discussed below.
Movements
It means that making movements from one place to another with some purpose. (For writing on
the black board, to conduct experiment, to explain the chart or model, to pay attention to the
pupil who is responding to some question etc.)
Gestures
These include movements of head, hand and body parts to arrest attention, to express emotions
or to indicate shapes, sizes and movements. All these acts are performed to become more
expressive.
When two or more persons communicate their views with each other, they are said to be
interacting. In the classroom the following three styles of interaction are possible:
All types of interaction should go side by side to secure and sustain pupils’ attention.
Focusing
The teacher draws the attention of the pupils to the particular point in the lesson either by using
verbal or gestural focusing. In verbal focusing the teacher makes statements like, “look here”
“listen to me” “note it carefully”. In gestural focusing pointing towards some object with fingers
or underlining the important words on the black board.
Pausing
This means “stop talking” by the teacher for a moment. When the teacher becomes silent during
teaching, it at once draws the attention of the pupils with curiosity towards the teacher. The
message given at this point is easily received by the pupils.
Oral-Visual Switching
The teacher gives information to the class verbally about something. This is called oral medium.
When the teacher is showing maps, charts and object without saying something, this is called
visual medium. If the teacher is giving information to the pupils through any one medium (oral,
visual, oral visual) for a long time, it is possible that the students may lose attention to what the
teacher is conveying to them. Therefore it is essential for the teacher to change medium rapidly
in order to secure and sustain pupils’ attention to what he says. There are three types media:
When the teacher while speaking shows objects, charts and models and explains their
various parts. It is switching from oral to oral-visual.
2) Oral ⇄ visual
When the teacher while speaking, shows objects, maps, charts, globe etc. It is switching
form oral to visual.
When the teacher demonstrates the experiment silently and then explains the
phenomenon with the help of charts, maps, diagram etc. This is visual-oral switching.
These devices are used interchangeably to secure and sustain pupils’ attention to the lesson. Let
us use these components of the skill of stimulus variation in the following micro-lesson to attract
and focus pupil’s attention.
(i) Planning
(a) Establish clearly, in advance, the major point or points you wish to communicate
to your pupils. These may be ideas, rules, relationships, generalization, etc.
Establish links between ideas.
(b) Obtain information from pupils about their knowledge, experience, and interest to
guide your planning. Your explanation must appeal to your class.
(d) Be flexible. Be prepared to modify your plans in the light of feedback from pupils
during the lesson. Adapt to pupil needs.
(ii) Operation
(a) Consider other skills on which Explanation partly rests (e.g. teacher liveliness) –
React to your class.
(b) Structure: introduction, elaboration, summary.
- Emphasis the main points, so that their importance is clear.
- Show them the relationship between the main points.
- Determine (if necessary) the general principles involved.
We will now look a little more at the question of examples. Effective explanation relies
on illustration, analogy and the use of examples. In the task below, attention should be given in
particular to the last of these.
a) Examples
These are central to teaching new ideas and to obtaining feedback as to whether the ideas
have been understood. Examples may be used:
b) Using Examples
Inductive approach
It starts with examples, and infers generalization from them. The major claims are:
i. It helps students acquire skills for looking for order in an apparently pattern
less set of data.
ii. Encourages divergent and creative thinking.
Deductive approach
It states the generalization first, and applies it to a number of examples. The initial
statement, even if not fully understood by students, helps to focus their attention on
those aspects of examples on which teacher wishes them to concentrate. Classroom
observation suggests that effective explanation often occurs when first statement of a
rule is followed by examples and then by a second statement of the rule, for example,
clarity in establishing relationship between general rule and specific examples.
In all cases, it is essential for the teacher to use examples which are relevant to student’s
experience and interests, and their present level of understanding.
Most teachers talk too much. Training in the use of silence and non-verbal cues is aimed
at remedying this state of affairs. But it is not just a negative thing. Silence can have a powerful
effect if used insightfully, and non-verbal cues can very often be more effective than verbal ones.
Non-Verbal Aspects
a) Movement
Generally, a moving object is more interesting than a stationary one. Teacher can
use their teaching space purposefully. Don’t be stuck to the blackboard. Move towards
the class, and amongst them. In this way, as the teacher, they can create and convey
various meanings such as friendliness, firmness, hostility, anger, pleasure. Movement
can also help to exercise students’ eyeballs and prevent them falling asleep.
b) Gestures and Facial Expressions
As a teacher, the way they use their hands, body and head, and the way they vary
their facial expressions will also convey meaning and emphasis. Many gestures are used
in communication and interpersonal contact. Think of ways in which teacher can
encourage attention or positive response from students by teacher’s gestures and facial
expressions.
Figure 1.0
c) Eye-contact
d) Interaction
Don’t talk too much. Use strategies to encourage various interaction patterns such
as T-P, P-P, T-group. Involve the pupils.
Every responding pupil of the class needs social approval of his behavior. To satisfy this
need, he is always eager to answer each question known to him. If the teacher is encouraging the
pupils by statements like, “good”, that is very good and certain non-verbal expressions, as
smiling, nodding the head and paying attention to the responding pupil, the pupil participation in
the class is maximized. The main theme of the skill is that encouraging remarks of the teacher
increases and discouraging remarks decreases the pupil-participation in the development of the
learning process. Teachers are right if their ways are in accordance with the following
components of the skill.
The components of skill involved are:
(i) Using words and phrases like, “good”, “very good” and “excellent”.
(iv) Using extra-verbal cues, like “um”, “um”, “aha” to encourage pupils.
(v) Using prompts like carry on think again, to help the pupil give correct response.
The teacher gives comments to pupils on their correct response without using words. For
example, this he does by nodding the head, smiling, patting, looking attentively at the responding
pupil, and writing pupil’s answer on the black boards. The teacher encourages the pupils to
participate maximally in the development of the lesson.
The teacher gives comments on the incorrect or partially incorrect response by telling that
the pupil’s response is incorrect or making sarcastic remarks like “idiots”, “stupid” and others.
Such behavior of the teacher discourages pupil-participation and should not be used.
The teacher shows his disapproval without using words. This involves, frowning, staring,
and looking angrily at the responding pupil, when he gives wrong response. This type of
behavior of the teacher creates fear in the minds of the pupil and decreases pupil-participation.
This is the situation, where the teacher does not give reinforcement when the situation is
demanding encouragement.
Inappropriate use of Reinforcement
This is the situation when the teacher does not encourage the pupil with respect to quality
of his response. He uses same type of comment for every response.
3.0 CONCLUSION
4.0 REFERENCES