ES331 - 14 Teaching Competence
ES331 - 14 Teaching Competence
ES331 - 14 Teaching Competence
Structure
14.0 Introduction
14.1 Objectives
14.2 Teaching Competence and Skills :Meaning and Nature
14.3 Classification of Skills
14.3.1 Core Teaching Skills
14.3.2 Specific Teaching Skills
14.3.3 Target Group Specific Skills
14.4 Training in Teaching Skills
14.4.1 Training Strategies
14.4.2 Microteaching
14.5 Let Us Sum Up
14.6 Unit-end Exercises
14.7 Answers to Check Your Progress
14.8 Suggested Readings
t 14.0 INTRODUCTION
As we know, every profession demands certain specific skills and competence on the
part of its practitioners. Similarly, if one believes that teaching is a profession, one
should demonstrate certain skills and competencieswhich can influence learning in the
students and help them achieve their goal of life. The point of emphasis here is that the
B.Ed. programme should instil certain speafic skills in you, as an in-service student of
education. If you are working as a teacher, the programme should sharpen your skills '
as an effective teacher working at the secondary/senior secondary level of education.
The development of desired skills and competencies depends on the effectivenessof the
learning material and practical activities you are going to undertake. Besides, your
attitude towards training in general and teaching in particular can make or mar the
effectiveness of even the best training inputs and educational strategies.
In order to implement the principles of teaching the teacher has to have certain skills
and competencies. The inputs provided through the B.Ed. programme will help you in
sharpeningyour teaching skills, as stated earlier it is in this context that the concept of
teaching skills and competence has been discussed in this unit.
We will discuss here three major types of teaching skills - core skills, subject and
grade-specificskills, and target group specificteaching skills. The main emphasis of our
discussion in this unit is on the strategies of training for developing necessary skills in
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teachers. Since microteaching is considered to be a relatively more effective training
strategy, an extended treatment has been given to it.
You have already studied in Block 2 the principles of effective teaching : teacher-
controlled, group-controlled and learner-conrrc~l!dreaching. You have also studied
various strategies of planning and managcmenr Cf !nsrruorl~h.The d!scwssion in this
first unit deals with the principles and practices discussed in the preceeding blocks of
this course.
Teaching SkJlh
14.1 OBJECTIVES
After gaing through this unit you should be able to :
define the concepts of teaching competence and teaching skills,
classify and explain various teaching skills required by an effective teacher at the
secondary/senior secondary school level,
explain the strategies of training to instil teaching skills in teachers, and
describe the concept, organisation and evaluation of the microteaching approach.
Throughout this course we have been discussing various principles and practices of the
teaching-learning process. By now you might have realised that teaching-learning is a
complex process. It consists of various activities to be performed by the teacher. These
activities maybe: introducingthe lesson, demonstrating experiments,providing feedback,
explaining concepts and principles, questioning, drawing figures, writing on the
blackboard, using teaching aids and other means of communication, etc. The activities
and behaviours that facilitate learning in students are called teaching skills. Thus
instructional techniques and procedures used by the teacher in classroom are known as
teaching skills. From the instructional point of view, the teacher employs teaching skills
in the classroom or school setting.
The teaching skill is a set of strictly overt behaviours of the teacher (verbal and
non-verbal) that can be observed, measured and modified. Teaching skills have
essentially three components (Singh & Joshi, 1990). They are :
Perception : Teaching skills have a perceptual cohponent for observing and
receiving feedback. The teacher observes and selscts appropriate skills to be
acquired by him.
Coghition : Cognition refers to the behaviour or experience of knowing in which
there is some degree of awareness, as in thinking and problem solving. Skills are
thus cognitive strategies that allow the teachers to complete their assigned tasks i.e.,
teaching-learning activities which they learn through education and training. The
knowledge thus acquired develops in teachers the ability to make interpretations,
and form judgements and decisions about various teaching-learning activities.
Action :Teaching skills demand every teacher to actually practise hidher perceived
and acquired knowledge in an effective manner in the classroom. This is so because
teaching skills are a set of strictly overt and observable behaviours.
We assume that the effective teachers need three essential kinds of knowledge before
they can teach the class confidently. These are :knowledge of content, knowledge about
the students they are going to teach and the learning process; and knowledge of teaching
strategies. Teachers alsoneed appropriate opportunitiesto practice what they have learnt
through simulated or workshop experiences.
Teachers are expected to be knowledgeable in the areas outside their specialisation as
well. Educated teachers, with wide knowledge, command the respect of fellow teachers
and the people in their communities. In rural areas the teacher is consulted in various
decision making processes; helshe is therefore expected to be well informed on a whole
range of issues, e.g. 1ocaVnational politics, Indian history, country's geography,etc. We
are clear in our approach that we are going to provide some inputs in making you a well
informed and knowledgeable teacher. Your own efforts towards life-long learning will
enable you to acquire the necessary competence.
Teacher educators often recommend that in order to be successful, teachers must know
the students and their learning characteristics. The students differ from each other. The
teachers should assist every student in his growth and development throughout the school
years. You should therefore continue to learn more about your students in the context of
their lives within and outside the classroom.
We know that learning is neither easy nor simple; teaching too is difficult as well as
complex. Therefore, defining teaching skills is a difficult task. The nature of teaching
skills is quite complex. We therefore should not hasten to deiine teaching skills without
understanding the complex nature of teaching skills which have external features (e.g.,
presenting content, managing class, etc.) and internal features (eSg.,teacher's attitude
towards students and their learning, motivation, etc.). Teaching behaviourslskills should
therefore be studied in a systematic and integrated fashion because teaching skills have
many components. These components account for the teacher's resourcefulness in
helping the students to attain their objectives.
1 4 3 CLASSIFICATION OF SKILLS
Teaching skills are essential for effective teaching. The effective teachers must not only
possess a good repertoire of skills, but also understand when and why to use certain skills.
An effective (skillful) teacher understands that different educational objectives require
different teaching skills and behaviours. For example, productive drill and practice
produce better leaning in mathematics while this approach may not be appropriate in
literature. Understanding when and where different teaching skills are appropriate is an
important dimension of effective teaching.
We are not going to draw a clear boundary line between different types of teaching skills.
We shall present and discuss here various types of teaching skills for your clarity a i d
understanding so that you can use them for clear presentation of the content to your
students. Please remember that all teaching skills are inter-related and have bearing on
one another.
The following sub-sections deal with the various teaching skills commonly used by
teachers.
W$at is the difference between responsive skills and initiation skills of teaching?
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The cla$sification of skills according to the teacher tasks is as follows (Lalitha, 1975).
A detailed discussion on these skills will be presented in Units 15,16, and 17. You may
find some overlap in the discussion on these skills presented in other units. We have done
it in order to emphasise the importance of the skills required by the teacher teaching the
secondary/senior secondary students.
The level of questions put to students depend on the objectives of the lesson and the
mental ability of the students being taught. A higher order question for eighth grade
students may be a lower order question for tenth grade students. The difficulty level of
the questions should be increased gradually i.e. in the beginning lower order questions
should be asked. Once the students have attained the minimum level of understanding
middle or higher order questions can be asked.
Components of gnestioning skills: By now you would have realised that questioning is
an important technique to make teachingllearning more productive. The teacher,
therefore, should possess the skill of asking meaningful questions. There are three main
components of the questioning skills (Singh & Sharma, 1987).
b) Process of questioning :The manner of asking questions should be such that it helps
students to progress in their learning. The speed of asking questions depends on the
difficulty level of the concepts being taught and the cognitive level of the students. If the
teacher is interested in checking the previous knowledge of the students, questions can
be asktd at a relatively faster speed. We, however, would like to clarify that the number
and level of questions asked in a lesson depend on the resourcefulness of the teacher.
This is so because the questions are aimed at attainment of the pre-determined objectives
of the lesson. If you feel that the students are not progressing according to your
expectation, or they are not participating in the teaching-learning activities, more
quertiom (along with group or individual exercises/activities) may be asked. Research
fhdhgr show that increase in the frequency of questions fosters learning among students.
While asking questions, we should address the questions to all the students and not to
the students sitting on the front seats. Similarly all the students should be given a chance
to answer the questions. It usually happens that the front seaters are involved in
tramaction and is a result the other students become inattentive to the lesson being
taught.
Fig. 14.2 :Students Involvement in Ttaching-Learning Process.
Good questioningbehaviour requires allowing students sufficient time to think about and
respond to the questions A teacher tends to minimise the value of the question if he does
not give students time to think about the question and its answer. The students should be
encouraged to think, then only the questions can have the desired effect on students'
thinking.
ii) Skill of response management: The questions asked by the teacher are answered by
the students. The teacher uses the answer given by the student as a tool to impart
knowledge and skills to them. The teacher uses different techniques to get correct
answers from the students and thus leads them to higher level learning. As you know,
correct responses on the part of the students reinforce their learning. The skill of
obtaining correct answers from the students is known as the skill of response
management.
There may be various types of responses from the students. There may be no answer,
wrong answer, partially correct answer, even incomplete answer and of course, the
correct answer. Whatever the situation, the teacher should have the necessary ability or
resourcefulness to help the student manage his response so that he is able to formulate
the correct answer or achieve the higher level learning.
There are five major components of the skill of managing responses ( Singh &
Sharma,1987).
Prompting: In case the question is difficult, it may be simplified or modified by breaking 11
it up into smaller questions. The teacher can give clues, hints, a partial answer, etc. to
the students. The clues to the correct responses are known as prompts. Before using the
prompts, the reasons for no response or incorrect response should be examined. The
type of prompt to be provided should be decided by the teacher according to the
problem(s) faced by the students. Prompts help the student reach the correct response.
Besides, the student gets encouragement from the teacher in formulating the correct
answer/solution. It stimulates a student's thinking. The student feels a sense of
participation in the teaching-learning activities when he tries to solve the problem with
active support of the teacher. The teacher therefore should develop the ability to provide
appropriate prompts in order to enable the students to formulate the desired response.
Seeking hrther information: This technique may be used when the student gives
incomplete or partially correct answer. The teacher tries to help the student clarify his
response. Additional information related to the question or answer can be asked for in
order to judge whether or not the student has properly understood the concepts and
whether he has developed mastery over the lesson being taught.
Refocussing: This technique is used when the student's answer is correct. The student
can be asked to relate the knowledge gained in the similar or new situations. It will provide
the student an opportunity to think about the application(s) of the acquired knowledge
or skills.
Redirection: This technique involves directing the same question to a number of the
students. This technique is applied when no answer or incorrect answer is provided by
the students. Through redirection, we can ensure greater participation of, and brain-
storming discussion by the students.
Increasing critical awareness :This technique is used when the student gives the correct
answer. h such a situation, the teacher puts higher order questions in order to increase
critical thinking among students. Critical thinking will help the students achieve higher
level objectives.
111) Sklll of reinforament: Reinforcement is not only used to promote learning, but
also to secure attention and provide greater motivation to the students. For this the
academic activities should be meaningful and worthwhile so that the students can get the
intended benefits from them. If their i.e. the students' behaviour is approved by the class
teacher, they feel motivated to participate with enthusiam and initiative in instructional
activities. There are four broad components of the skill of reinforcement. These are:
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Positive verbal reinforcement :It involves the use of verbal or linguistic expressions
which reinforce learning. Just, saying 'Good', 'Yes', 'Well done' after the student
has answered can reinforce him.Teacher's utterances like 'aha', 'humm', etc., can
encourage the student to continue yith his answer. The important point(s) made by
the student can be re-emphasised or highlighted by the teacher.
Positive non-verbal reinforcement: It involves the use of teacher's gestures in order
to reinforce the student's behaviour. Nodding, smiling, moving towards the student,
giving him an encouraging look, etc., are examples of positive non-verbal
reinforcers.
a Negative verbal reinforcement: The use of certain undesirable reinforcers can
strengthen the occurrence of a particular behaviour. Expressions like wrong, no,
i n c o m t , no true, etc., are examples of negative verbal reinforcers.
Negative non-verbal reinforcement: The teacher uses this type of reinforcers in
order to make the students aware of certain undesirable behaviours. Frowning,
nodding the head disapprovingly, moving away from the student,etc., are examples
of negative verbal reinforcers.
iv) Skill of explaining: The skill of explaining helps the student understand concepts,
priaciples or phenomena. Explanation involves various logical steps to arrive at
inferences. A good explanation is one which is understood by the student. The following
u a the major components of the skill of explaining:
12 Use of introductory statements
Statement of the learning outcomes
Use of simple and relevant examples
Use of appropriate media for illustrations
Use of the concluding statements
Use of the explaining links
Use of the audio-visual aids
Glossary of the key terms
The explanation should be interesting and the examples should be taken from real life
situations. The explanation should not confuse the studentsby citing irrelevant examples
or presenting non-essential content. Irrelevant statements can make the concepts more
confusing for students.
v) Skill of illustrating: Some concepts are so abstract that explanation does not help
the students understand the concepts. In such a situation the skillful teacher uses some
examples to illustrate the idea, concept or principle. The teacher uses various principles
of teaching such as simple to complex, concrete to abstract, etc., to help the students
understand the concepts. A good illustrative example should engage the student's
attention and it should be within the student's level of understanding. Only then can it
significantly affect their understanding.
We can use various media for presenting examples and explaining abstract or difficult
concepts. The examples can be presented through thevisual medium(eg. models, charts,
diagrams, etc.) and audio medium( telling stories, describing events, etc.). Many concepts
can be illustrated through the use of actual objects e.g. buds, reptiles, fieldtrips,
excursion. Examples can be presented with or without words.
II To illustrate concepts and principles, the teacher should have a good knowledge of the
various methods and media of teaching. Both inductive and deductive methods can be
used, depending on the students' responses and also the concept being taught. In the
inductive method the teacher presents a number of relevant examples and then draws
conclusions on the basis of the examples. In the deductive method the teacher states rhe
concept1 fact/ idea fust and then gives examples to support and illustrate it. Both the
methods can be used for long-term effect on the students. The illustrations can be verbal
and/or non-verbal.
Teaching is usually undertaken to achieve objectives at three levels. The teacher has to
use different teaching techniques to enable students to attain different types of objectives.
The following details will darify this:
II Level of ob,Pectives
Cognitiveffiowledge
Teacbing techniques and skills required
Lecturing, discussion
T a ~ C o ~ c e
I Affective Dramatisation
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Psychomotor
It has now been proved beyond doubt that the students differ widely in their rates of
learning. But unfortunately this remains even today the most neglected aspect of learning
in classroom. We tend to overlook individual differences in learning. Many teachers at
times wish that the students who are unwilling or unable to learn at the rate set by the
teacher should be dropped from school without seriously considering their problem. We
want to bring home the idea that we should understand the individual in education. After
all education is a process through which every student is helped develop hidher potential
and abilities to the greatest degree, with due regard for hidher strengths and limitations.
You may often have to manage students with some learning disability. The expression
learning disability refers to an inability to perform a task that is normally within the
capability range of learners of a particular age-group or grade. Learning disability often
involves some gap(s) in essential learning processes related to perception, integration
and verbahon-verbal expression.
Now let us consider the specific cases of student disability vis-a-vis teaching skills. Take
the example of handicapped students. Those students who have one or more of the
following handicaps are included in this group: learning disabled, speech impaired,
mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, hearing impaired, orthopaedically
I handicapped, visually handicapped, and those with other health impairments. As you
I know, the handicapped students often do not receive the kind of education that effectively
meets their needs. With special teaching strategies and personal w e , they can make
i significant progress and learn through integrated or mainstream classes.
1 Besides knowledge of various handicaps and the teaching methods and materials
appropriate for dealing with different types of handicaps, an effectiveteacher must have
/ positive attitudes towards special students. Such a teacher believes in these students and
their ability to learn and acquire skills. He makes all students feel that they are important
members of the class. The teacher should help the students whatever their disability to
function independently and as normally as possible. The concept of superiority or
inferiority should be removed from students' minds and this should be reflected in their
classroom behaviour.
Let us consider another example of the students for whom you will need special teaching
methods and materials. These are the gifted and talented students. You will find that such
students are quicker, more eager learners, often capable of mastering the subject with an
ease that other students (and even some teachers) may resent. They are intellectually
curious and can be especially critical of the teachers who fail to stimulate and challenge
them. The gifted students need innovative and fast paced teaching. They may also need
a various kinds of enriched educational tasks. To meet their educational needs, the
teachers have to plan high level teaching-learning activities.
a self-directed or independent study. The teachers should encourage such students
to study without constant supervision of the teachers, without the threat or reward
of grade. The instructional tasks should be planned in a way that develop the skill
of autonomous learning and satisfy their needs.
I a special educational plan. Special assignments and activities should be planned for
the gifted students.
Let us now take a disadvantaged group of students for whcnu you again need a diEferent
aet of teaching skills. The femalestudents are often discrimhated against in the classroom
and thus they enjoy minority status. Quite a few girls often dropout of school due to this.
Statistics reveal a high dropout rate of girls. With patience and determination, you can
help the students with learning disability to acquire knowledge and skills, despite their
handicaps. The students should feel that someone cares for them and believes that they
can be quite effectiveand successful human beings.
Check Your Progress 3
NoQs: a) Write your answers in the space given below.
b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
Which teaching techniques are required to achieve objectives at cognitive, affective
and psychomotor level? Give one example in each case.
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Level of objective Teaching technique
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i) Cognitive
1 iii) Psychomotor
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The beginner teachers entering the teaching professionhave many concerns, particularly
in the areas of classroom management, motivation of students, and dealing with individual
differences. The teacher education programme caters to these needs of the trainee
teachers to succeed in their professional life. Thus through training in teaching skills you
too can develop the ability to perceive the teaching situation in its entirety, select and
organise skills in the desired sequence and thereby create effective environment for
achieving the instructional objectives. Therefore teachers should understand the
strengths of individual skills and use them in various situations with advantage.
The main objective of teacher education programme is to instil the necessary knowledge
and skills in teachers. Research on effective teaching has established links between a
number of teaching behaviours and student karning. An effectiveteacher is the one who
exbi'bits the desired behaviours in classroom for the benefit of the students.
There are various training strategies being followod by teacher educators. We &all
discuss the following five strategies popularly wed at reputed and well-established
teacher education institutions:
Demonstration
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strategies
Interaction analysis
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\' 9 Microteaching I
The first four strategies shall be discussed under Sub-section 14.4.1. Microteaching,being
a more important and innovative training strategy, will be given an extended treatment
in Sub-section 14.4.2.
The second format used for demonstrationis video recording of model lessons based on
certain skills. These video programmes can either be broadcast or shown on the vi&o
cassette player (VCP). In comparison to the broadcast mode, the cassette mode is more
effective. The teacher trainees can view the demonstrations on the VCP according to their
convenience and practise the skills. VCPs have the control devices to stop, pause, replay
or skip certain portion of the recorded demonstration. Thus the cassette mode can help
the trainees aquire mastery learning of skills. To make use of this strategy,the video tape
recorder should be available at every training centre i.e. every trainee should have easy
access to the video tape playerlrecorder.
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The third fonnat of demonstration is audio-visual which could be very useful for teaching
certain skills in a poor country like India. In this format, a particular teaching skill is
presented in the text form which includes visuals, illustrations, handbooks, guides,
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lessons, etc. The text material is supported by powerful background commentary. Audio
cassettes with control facility is a useful device for development of teaching skills. The
trainee reads the text while listening to the audio cassette.The commentary on the audio
cassette follows the textual material. Use of audio cassette has yet another advantage i.e.
you can be very informal while talking through the audio medium, which is usually not
possible in the case of print medium.
ii) Programmed instruction (PI) :As you will study in Course ES-332, programmed
instruction is a method of providing individualised instruction in which the student
proceeds according to hisfher pace of learning. Programmed instruction provides to the
trainee various kinds of intellectual and motor experiences in a controlled situation. A
variety of devices such as teaching machine, printed text, radio, television, computer, etc.,
are used to support programmed instruction.
A study of how PI is developed can provide deep insight and understanding about the
elements, structure, and sequencing of the content or skills on which it is based. During
teaching practice, you should teach a lesson by following a traditional approach to lesson
p1anning:The teaching should be recorded and evaluated.After that, you should develop
programmed instruction materials on the same topic and reteach the same to another
group of students. The teaching should be recorded and evaluated with the criteriqused
earlier. You will find significant improvement in your teaching. The preparation of PI
material will provide you knowledge about content structure and its sequencing in the
most logical way. You have studied about PI in detail in Unit 8 of Block 2.
ii) Interaction analysis: Interaction analysis technique involves observing the direc~
and indirect influence of the teacher's classroom behaviour. It is an effective approach
for developing, modifying and improving teaching behaviour. Like programmed
instruction, the interaction analysis can also be used as a mechanism for providing
feedback for modification of teacher behaviour. Research findings have revealed that
interaction analysis can be used as an effective training strategy to improve teacher
behaviour. You, as a trainee teacher, should be aware of coding and decoding procedure
of interaction analysis.
During practice teaching, you should also request your colleagues to observe your lessons
by using interaction analysis. You should decode the record sheet of the observation of
your lessons. The decoding process will provide you information about your teaching
behaviour. This will, in turn, provide you feedback about the strenghts and weaknesses
of your teaching. The feedback should be discussed with peer and resource persons. You
should make use of the suggestions given by the peer and resource persons. You should
repeat your teaching until you acquire mastery in these skills.
To get psycho-feedback, you can use audio or video tape recorders to record one or two
lessons. The audio or video programmes can be replayed to discuss the behaviour
displayed by you in classroom. With the help of electronic devices, you can observe your
own behaviour which can be made still more effective to achieve your objective, i.e.
affeative teaching. By doing so you can overcome the problem of biased observation on
the part of your peer(s) or the resource persons. Video feedback can enable the teacher TmcBIng Compekmce
trainees to avoid their undesirable teaching behaviour and replace it with the more
desirable.
While following interaction analysis technique for developing skills, you should ensure
that:
a innovative methods of teaching are employed
a encoding is done for the same learner group
a the teacher thoroughly understands the concept of interaction analysis, interaction
models, flow chart and interaction variables.
iv) Simalation : This approach of training is known by various names such as role
playing, artificial teaching, pilot training, clinical method or inductive scientific method.
As the term indicates, simulation technique is an artificial method to develop certain
psychomotor behaviour in the trainees. The teacher trainee has to play some role related
to teaching. It is a dramatic strategy based on the following principles:
a Learning by doing
a Providing immediate feedback and reinforcement
a Providing a safe platform for practice, and
a Rehearsal before facing real classroom teaching.
Simulation technique forges a link between theory and practice. The teacher trainee is
given an opportunity to study and analyse critical teaching problems. Hetshe can learn
classroom teaching behaviour through the technique of simulation. The teacher can
aquire teaching skills without facing actual classroom encounter. Every trainee gets
opportunities to develop the skill of observing and getting feedback (perceptual
component), making judgement and decision (cognitive component), and sequencing
classroom behaviour (performance component).
In this technique you have to play the role of a teacher. You can practice simulated
teaching according to the guidelines given below. You have to teach a small lesson ( with
only a few learning concepts) to your colleagues, assuming that they are secondary level
students, They have to act as students. You should employ the principles and practices
of effective teaching. Every one of you should teach some lessons by rotation. Every
lesson should be followed by discussion within the group under the supervision of the
resource persons. The suggestions and wmments thus received from the peers and the
resource persons can/will be utilised for improving your teaching behaviour, thus making
you an effective teacher. In this way, teaching competenceis developed by creating an
artificial situation where the well meaning expert comments from the peer and the
resource persons are made available to the teacher trainee to improve his teaching
behaviour. The teacher trainee can thereby aquire necessary teaching skills before
entering the real classroom and facing real students.
The procedure of simulated teaching is very simple. Every trainee has a chance to act as
a teacher, as a student and as an observer one after another. You should proceed the
following sequence in organisig and implementing simulated teaching.
a Decide the roles to be played as a teacher, a student or an observer
a Select a topic of your choice
a Prepare the outline of teaching
Decide the objectives to be achievedlskills to be acquired
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Teach the topic (remember your behaviour will be recorded by the observers)
Collect and discuss feedback with the observers
Incorporate improvements in your teaching behaviour, and
Repeat the cycle with a different topic till you master the skill or achieve the
objectives.
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ii) Give the three principles of simulation.
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14.4.2 Microteaching
Microteaching has been cosidered an effective technique for development of teaching
skills in teachers. The technique has been refined over a period of last thirty years.
Microteaching is like the simulation technique for developing teaching skills. This
approach is used to shape the teacher's behaviour based on an effective feedback
mechanism.
As the term itself indicates,microteaching is a scaled-down teaching in which the teacher
teachas a short lesson to a small group of students for a short period. One teaching skill
is practiced at a time. Thus microteaching is a miniature form of teaching in which
teaching is scaled down in terms of class size, time, complexity and activities with focus
on developing a specific teaching skill. Microteaching is carried under controlled,
laboratory or clinical situation.
If you analyse microteaching in the broader context, you will find that microteaching
provides opportuaities to the teacher trainee to teach specific skill and get immediate
feedback on his performance. Thus the trainee first teaches (i.e. displays certain
behaviours) and then analyses what he/ she has done in terms of acquiring the teaching
skills. The cycle of microteaching continues till the necessary skills required by the
profession (say teaching in this case) are acquired in entirety. The provision of getting
feedback about their performance immediately after completion of the lesson is a boost
to the teacher trainees.
Microteaching is an effective approach which leads one towards studying the process of
human learning in general and learning of teaching skills in particular. It provides
excellent opportunity to investigate the variables which affect human learning.
Assumptions in microteaching : The following are the essential assumptions in
micrbteaching:
hficrot~achingis real teaching but it aims at developing teaching skills in teachers
and not developing students' abiity
Microteaching is carried out under a non-complex environment (in contrast with Tuchlng Competence
complex classroom environment) ,
Microteaching ensures mastery learning. The teacher practices the skill till helshe
achieves perfection in hisher behaviour -
Microteaching brings a high degree of control in practicising teachers
Microteaching is a highly individualised approach to training, and
Microteaching clepends highly on effective feedback mechanism.
i) Knowledge acquisition phase: This is the 6rst stage of applying the microteaching
approach. The teacher needs to know all about the teaching skills required for teaching
secondary school students. This phase involves two tasks.
Observation of demonstration skills, and
I Analysis of and discussion on demonstration.
ii) Skill acquisition phase: This phase involves acquiring actual skills through practice.
Three major activities are carried out during this phase.
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Preparation of micro lesson,
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Practice of teaching skills, and
1 Evaluation of performance.
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iii) Transfer phase: In the last phase, the teacher is given opportunities to use the skills
acquired through normal classroom situation. The knowledge and skills acquired in the
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controlled1laboratory situation qre transferred to an actual teaching situation.
Singh and Sharma (198j) discuss the following steps to implement microteaching. These
steps have been validated in various teacher education institutions.
Orientntioa about mi- :In order to orient teacher trainees about microteaching
theoretical discussion about the concept of microteaching should be arranged. The
strengths and limitations of microteaching should also be explained.
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Dlscussi6n on teaching skills :The concept of teaching skills is clarified first. At least
five teaching skills should be selected and explained at jength. Only one skill shall be
discussed at a time before it is practiced. The teacher trainees should be trained in
observing the teaching skills.
Presentation of model lesson : The rnodcl lcssons on the chosen teaching skills are
demonstrated by the teacher educator preferably in all the method subjects opted for the
teacher trainees. Model lessons can be demonstrated through video prograiumes as well.
Preparation of micro-lesson plans :The standard lesson format may be used for micro-
teaching. As far as possible only one concept should be selected for a micro-lesson. The
guidelines for preparation of a micro-lesson dong with examples are given to teacher
trainees.
Practice of teaching sUlis :At least five skills maybe practised by a teacher trainee. The
following is the suggested list of skills:
P r o b i i questions Effective use of blackboard
Stimulus variation Set induction
Reinforcement Closure
Silence and non-verbal clues Liveliness
Illugtrating with examples 9 Reacting
Encouraging student's participation Recognising and attending
behaviour
Explaining Quality of questioning
Evaluation and feedback : Thc teaching skills being developed through microteaching
are observed and evaluated by the peers and the resource persons. The resourcefulness
and capability of resource persons make the process of skill development effective.This
is achieved through expert comments and suggestions by resource persons. Being a
technical task, feedback should be pedagogically useful for the teachers under training.
The cornmcnts should encourage them to improve their behaviour.
There can be various somces of feedback. These include peers, teacher educators,
resource persons, students, the teacher ( trainee) himself, ctc. Bekg a specialised task,
it requires serious efforts on the part of those who provide feedback. Interestingly, the
teacher can analyse hidher teaching bchaviour i.e. strong and weak points himself/
herself. Such self-feedback is comparative.ly more effective.
22
Electronic devices, particularly audio and video recordings of the lessons presented by T e a e m Compbnee
the teacher, are used these days to provide constructive feedback to the teacher. After
the lesson is over, the audio or video programmes can be displayedJscreened and the
teacher can listen to or view his/ her teaching behaviour. Feedback thus received will be
objective, unbiased and complete. Now-a-days audiotape records are easily available to
majority of the teachers in the country. Videotape recorders, however, can be either
hired or made available by the teacher education institutions for feedback purposes. You
might have seen that these days people get their marriage functions recorded on
videotape recorder. What we wish to emphasis here is that now it is possible to get w e
or two lessons recorded on videotape recorder also. The recorded programmes can be
played, replayed or stopped as and when required. Since the teacher sees himselflherself
teaching, hetshe can get greater motivation to perfect hidher behaviour by analysing
hidher desirable as well as undesirable teaching behaviour.
1 ~c Adhrvbhoot
Bhooshan, S., Varshneya, A.K. & Singh, P.P. (1992) :"~hikshan~dhi~am
I
Tahva". Vinod Pustak Mandir, Agra.
i
Jangira, N.K. & Singh, Ajit, (1982) : Core Teaching Skills :Micro-teaching Apprwch,
NCERT, New Delhi.