Pupil Experience: A Hands-On Approach to Micro-Teaching

ABSTRACT

In the conventional approach to micro-teaching, student teachers practise their teaching techniques before a group of their peers. This teaching environment is manifestly artificial and provides few of the challenges of the real-world classroom.

As an alternative to micro-teaching, a Pupil Experience approach was conceived in which students would visit schools weekly to tutor small groups of remedial English language pupils. It was envisioned that such direct pupil contact would provide ‘hands-on’ experience with the realities of the classroom, while not burdening the students with the challenges of full class management.

As currently implemented, CS01 students participate in Pupil Experience during the first term of coursework. Students go out to three schools on Saturday mornings and work in fours with groups of 6 – 8 remedial pupils, supervised by an IE lecturer. The students follow a structured programme based on a Workbook, and function alternately in a teaching and observing role. Development of reflection upon practice is encouraged by regular post-conferencing and journal keeping, culminating in a case study assignment and Pupil Experience Seminar held at the end of PE.

The effectiveness of Pupil Experience has been evaluated through questionnaires, interviews, and transcriptions of seminar discussions, with positive results. Students have been 100% unanimous in preferring Pupil Experience to micro-teaching, since even in small group situations they become actively aware of pupil responses and learning needs.

Keywords::

• Teacher education
• pre-service
• microteaching