Microteaching: The Teacher Training Technique That Is Practiced Worldwide

If you are training to become a teacher, you’ll already have decades of experience in the classroom as a learner. But learning to teach means gaining new skills, as well as honing those that you already have. You’ll come across many different techniques and practices when it comes to ‘learning to teach.’  Since the art of teaching combines so many different basic and soft skills, it’s important to review your own performance as a teacher as well as receive feedback from experienced peers. 

What is Micro-Teaching?

You’ll deliver a short teaching session, either online, recorded or in person. This could mean presenting to your mentor or school colleagues, or a small group or class. Microteaching is a concept in teacher training that gives teachers the opportunity to review their own performance and receive feedback on their ability and developing skill as a teacher. You may be asked to take part in a micro-teach as part of your Teacher Training Programme.

How Can Micro-Teaching Make You A Better Teacher?

Micro-teaching is just one way that teachers can receive immediate feedback on their teaching skills and style. It involves teaching a short lesson or piece of knowledge to a group of peers, colleagues or students. The subject of micro-teach can vary – it may be tailored to your prospective audience or on a subject you personally have a passion for – whatever you chose to teach, it should be something you feel confident in putting across.

Tips for a great micro-teach

• Prepare –  Planning your micro-teach using lesson-planning skills you already have will make it easy to define the objective, resources required and afterwards, the success of your lesson
• Plan Interaction – We are all more used to being in front of a camera than ever before, but whether you are presenting your microteach ‘live’ or recording it for your own or others review it’s important to build the possibility of engagement into your lesson.
• Keep Control – Keeping the interest of your audience is essential. You’ll need to tread the line between theatrics and lecturing
• Mind The Clock – With such a small time frame, make sure you are highlighting the most relevant and interesting points to captivate your audience. Leave time for questions, or a summary if you are recording.

We found these great resources to help you plan a micro-teach:

There’s an in-depth infographic here with lots of the benefits of micro-teaching

Ann Gravells, experienced educator and writer has produced this video with lots of tips on preparing a microteach

There are lots of fun infographics and guides on Pinterest about micro-teaching (Don’t forget to follow our boards too!)

Whether it’s part of your formal teacher training, or you use micro-teaching as a way to monitor and develop your teaching style as an already-qualified teacher, we hope these tips and resources have been helpful. As always, our team are here to support all of our candidates and their professional development. If you are looking to teach in the UK, register with us below for access to our top-end benefits and opportunities