Reflective Practices of Pre-Service Teachers: Self-reflections on Micro Teaching

Abstract

This study aims to reveal pre-service teachers' (PSTs) self-reflections on micro-teaching practices. The study was conducted with a qualitative approach. The participants of the study consisted of 117 PSTs from 9 different branches who took the Micro-teaching (Elective) course at the faculty of education of a state university in Türkiye in the 2021-2022 academic year. According to the aim of the study, PSTs did micro-teaching practices. The micro-teaching practices were video-recorded and watched by the PST. The practice was evaluated by the PSTs peers and delivered to the PST in writing. The qualitative data of the study were obtained with the "Self-reflection Form" prepared by the researchers. This form consists of two open-ended questions about the strengths and weaknesses that pre-service teachers realized during the microteaching practice. The data were analyzed by content analysis method. It was found that PST described their strengths and weaknesses in planning, process, and assessment categories. PSTs emphasized their weaknesses more than their strengths for the planning category. In the category of planning, pre-service teachers stated that their strengths were that they were able to prepare lesson plans with well-rounded activities and integrity, and their weaknesses were that they could not manage their time properly and that they realized that the activities and examples were not suitable for the grade level. In the category of processing, they emphasized strengths more than weaknesses. The PSTs consider themselves strongest in lesson management and stated that they need to improve their diction, voice, and oratory skills. The assessment was the least opinioned category by the PSTs. For the assessment of the lesson, PSTs thought that they achieved the outcome by focusing on the teaching process, which was considered successful.