An investigation into the levels of feedback and reflec-tion during pre-service teachers’ micro-teaching practices

Abstract

Both feedback and reflection were well-investigated in many studies available in literature; however, the relationship between the two, especially that in micro-teaching practices of pre-service teachers (PreTs) has remained underexplored. This paper reports the results of an investigation into the levels of feedback and reflection during micro-teaching practices. Five subject-specific teacher educators (TEds) and PreTs at a university of teacher education, in the Mekong Delta participated in the study. Research instruments included observation and interviews. Data of minutes of micro-teaching observation and interviews was qualitatively analyzed. The research indicated two findings: (1) feedback mostly given by TEds supported the reflective process of PreTs and both primarily focused on teaching method-related issues; (2) reflective thinking generated by PreTs was limited at technical level and descriptive in general. The research contributed to bridging the gap in knowledge about the correlation between feedback and reflection and suggesting an urging need of fostering reflective capacity for PreTs based on broader and deeper focuses of feedback used during post-lesson discussions.