A comparative study of the use of microteaching and an analysis of factors which affect its use in one year postgraduate teacher training courses.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Natal, 1985.This thesis is concerned with a study of the use of microteaching in the one year postgraduate teacher training course. It consists of two national surveys using two types of questionnaire, an Organisation and an Attitude Questionnaire. Education tutors and Subject Method tutors in United Kingdom universities, polytechnics and colleges offering one year postgraduate courses were requested to complete questionnaires about their use of microteaching and about their attitudes towards it. Visits were arranged to meet the staff involved and to see the type of facilities available. A similar survey was conducted in Departments of Education in South African universities. A comparative study of the use of microteaching in one year postgraduate teacher training courses was carried out on the data that was accumulated from the two surveys. Some interesting points of comparison can be made both on the types of microteaching organisation that have evolved in the two very different education systems and on the different attitudes of staff towards the use of microteaching. Based on the United Kingdom data, an in-depth study of the factors affecting the use of microteaching, was carried out. This study was related to the changes in teacher training in the United Kingdom during the seventies, following the publication of the James report, leading to a more professional approach to teacher training and the evolution of school-based training courses. Significant differences in the responses to the Organisation and Attitude Questionnaires from the different types of institution were examined using Chi-square. The Attitude data was examined for various groups of teacher training staff, who differed in their approaches to the organisation of microteaching because of, for instance, the different facilities available, the length of time available, the size of the student group or the logistics of the microteaching programme, by the use of Chi-square and significant differences in the responses of the different groups were reported. The results from the surveys were analysed and related to the research findings as published in the literature to see how the practitioners of teacher education differ in their views and approaches to microteaching from those responsible for the research into microteaching. Factor analysis of the responses to the Attitude Questionnaire from the different types of training institution, i.e. United Kingdom universities, polytechnics and colleges and South African universities, was carried out to examine the significant underlying factors which influenced the responses. The findings of the study identify economic, organisational and philosophical factors which affect the way microteaching is used. These factors and the recent developments in postgraduate teacher training courses in the United Kingdom are examined for their possible implications for postgraduate teacher training in South Africa