A Critical Analysis of the Assessment for Micro-teaching Program for English Language Teachers in the Secondary Education in Mainland China

Abstract

Significant effort has been made to support pre-service and novice teacher learning abroad; however, not enough attention has been paid to promoting pre-service and novice teacher learning via collaboration with peer teachers and more expert educators at secondary education level in the context of mainland China. In order to facilitate this type of teacher collaboration and provide necessary support for pre-service and novice English language teachers in high schools in the southern part of China, a micro-teaching program has been incorporated into the pre-service training for these novice teachers. The micro-teaching program aims at equipping novice teachers with relevant teaching skills and behaviors through practice of teaching under controlled conditions. The purpose of this paper is to trace the developmental trajectories of the novice teachers participating in this program and examine the effect of formal assessment on the development of novice teachers. This study reveals that the program can help teachers share teaching strategies and solve practical problems in teaching, thus novice teachers acquire teaching skills and gain confidence in teaching. It is recommended the faculty should incorporate the program not only in pre-training service for novice teachers but also in service for teachers to improve their teaching routine.