THE QUALITY OF MICROTEACHING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

This study focuses and critically analyses the contribution of micro-teaching on teacher development of teaching skills through a micro-teaching programme. Microteaching frequently takes place as a group activity and entails planning and instructing a brief lesson or portion of a lesson to a group of other pre-teachers. This is followed by feedback from the teacher trainer and the peers. Since micro teaching across the globe have long discussed and acknowledged the advantages of this educational strategy, most pre-service Teacher Education programmes now incorporate it as a core component. The study was based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis principles (IPA) with thematic analysis. Six pre-service teachers were interviewed. Three themes emerged from these interviews, namely, a micro teaching programme, a practical teaching component, and a mentor teacher. The findings showed that the absence of a microteaching programme affected pre-service teachers’ overall training. It is recommended that in future, technology should be explored that could facilitate a microteaching programme. This will enhance the quality of microteaching and enable the accommodation of pre-service teachers during a time of crisis, as experienced with the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, institutions should begin to exploit technology in future. In conclusion, teachers who went through the crisis must be identified and assisted to reach their full potential.