Micro Teaching — Meaning, Steps, Cycle, and Skills

Micro teaching is a scaled-down, simulated teaching encounter in which a student teacher practises one specific teaching skill at a time with a small group of students for a brief period, then receives immediate feedback to improve performance.

Key characteristics:

• Scaled down in time: 5–10 minutes per session
• Scaled down in group size: 5–10 students (real or peer students)
• Focus on one skill: Only one teaching skill is practised per session
• Immediate feedback: Supervisor, peers, or video recording provide feedback
• Re-teaching: The teacher retaches after incorporating feedback

Origin: Stanford University, 1963 — developed by Dwight W. Allen, Robert Bush, and others.

The micro teaching cycle has the following steps:

1. Planning:

• Select one specific teaching skill to practise
• Prepare a brief lesson plan (micro lesson plan) for 5–10 minutes
• Identify topic and learning objective

2. Teaching (Teach):

• Teach the micro lesson to a small group (5–10 students)
• Duration: 5–10 minutes
• Focus only on the selected skill

3. Feedback:

• Supervisor/observer provides feedback immediately after teaching
• Peers may also give observations
• Video recording (where available) allows self-analysis
• Identifies strengths and areas for improvement

4. Re-planning:

• Based on feedback, revise the lesson plan
• Make targeted improvements to the skill

5. Re-teaching:

• Teach the revised lesson to a different (or the same) group
• Same skill, improved delivery

6. Re-feedback:

• Another round of feedback to check improvement

This cycle may be repeated multiple times until the skill is mastered.

Common micro teaching skills (Allen's list includes 14):

1. Set Induction (Introduction skill): Creating interest and preparing students for learning at the start of a lesson.

2. Stimulus Variation: Varying voice, gesture, body position, and teaching aids to maintain student attention.

3. Questioning: Asking probing, divergent, or convergent questions; redirecting and rephrasing questions.

4. Explaining: Clear, structured explanation with examples and illustrations.

5. Reinforcement (Skill of Reinforcement): Using verbal praise ('Good!', 'Correct!') and non-verbal cues (nodding, smiling) to encourage students.

6. Illustration with Examples: Using examples, analogies, and real-world applications.

7. Blackboard Writing: Organising content clearly on the board.

8. Closure: Summarising the lesson and connecting it to future learning at the end.

9. Probing Questions: Following up answers with deeper questions.

10. Silence and Non-Verbal Cues: Using pauses and body language effectively.

1. Focused skill development: One skill at a time prevents overload; teachers improve systematically.
2. Immediate feedback: Rapid feedback loop accelerates improvement.
3. Safe environment: Low-stakes practice before facing a real classroom.
4. Self-evaluation: Video recording allows self-analysis.
5. Time efficient: Short sessions make it practical for teacher training programmes.
6. Reduces anxiety: New teachers gain confidence through repeated practice.

Limitation: Artificial setting — small group, short time — may not fully replicate real classroom complexity.