Natural sciences pre-service teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the practical learning component of their bed curriculum
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Date
2021
Authors
Du Plessis, Odette
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Microteaching, as part of pre-service teachers’ preparation towards teacher effectiveness, remains a contentious issue in teacher training. This paper reports on the reflections of Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) pre-service teachers, that specialise in Natural Sciences (NS), about microteaching as part of their teaching practice component. Understanding the experiences and perceptions of the NS pre-service teachers can be helpful in determining the components that need to be strengthened to inform the effectiveness of microteaching in general and for the NS classes in particular. Microteaching is a skill-based analytical technique that is used to engage pre-service teachers in practicing their teaching skills in simplified classroom settings. It plays an important part in preparing pre-service teachers for the profession. This qualitative study, framed within an approach based on Bandura’s social learning theories, used focus group discussions and individual interviews to generate data. Eight purposefully sampled NS fourth year education students were sampled to share their microteaching experiences. The focus group discussion and individual interviews revolved around the preparation, presentation and feedback phases of microteaching. Thematic analysis was used to make sense of the focus group discussion and individual interviews. Findings indicated that the NS pre-service teachers had both positive and negative experiences that needed strengthening and attention.
Description
Dissertation (M.Ed. (Higher Education Studies))--University of the Free State, 2021
Keywords
Dissertation (M.Ed. (Higher Education Studies))--University of the Free State, 2021, Teacher Education, Teaching Practice, Natural Science Education, Microteaching