Microscenes in teacher training: practical training approach wins university pearl

Student teachers know how important it is for their future Running track to develop skills so that theory becomes good practice. An outstanding example of this is the project "Micro - The importance of microscenes for teacher training"which was developed by Dr. Barbara Geist as part of a master's seminar for teacher training students in German at RPTU Landau. This innovative concept was awarded the University Pearl of the Month at the end of 2024.

A prize awarded monthly by the Stifterverband to innovative and exemplary projects at a university. The aim of the award is to help small projects that have charisma to gain recognition beyond university boundaries.

Insight into the seminar: theory meets practice

Lena Kern, a student teacher in the Master's program, attended Professor Geist's Master's seminar with the usual expectations. She expected to learn a lot of theory in this compulsory module on spelling support and diagnostics. But things turned out differently - and she was thrilled. At the beginning of the seminar, lecturer Professor Barbara Geist introduced the topic. The students were surprised and excited when they learned that they would be developing a practical spelling workshop to promote spelling.

Kern immediately saw real added value for her future professional life in the close interlinking of theory and practice in this seminar. Her conclusion on the seminar: "It was absolutely exciting to see how the self-designed remedial teaching unit works in practice and, above all, to deal so intensively with oneself and its effect."

Design and implementation of the remedial teaching unit

During the seminar, the students independently prepared a 45-minute remedial teaching unit. "We were allowed to choose the focus ourselves and, above all, we were allowed to be creative and decide for ourselves how to achieve the support goal with the kids," says Lena Kern about her experiences.

Thanks to the cooperation with a Landau secondary school, the students had the opportunity to put the German support unit they had prepared into practice. Each lesson was recorded with the consent of the children and parents. "That was unusual for me at first. It took me a while to forget about the camera," says Kern.

Reflection through analysis

The recorded micro-scenes were later analyzed together with the other seminar participants. The short film sequences were therefore part of the seminar's own research workshop to analyze the students' teaching and learning behavior. How do I affect the children in the classroom? How do I shape my own language? How do the children react to the exercises? "The films made me aware of a lot about my own communication behavior and its influence on the children. For example, which phrases I use automatically to encourage the children, but also which sentences I throw out that weren't so good."

Microscenes: A successful model in teacher training

The microscenes made it possible to reflect deeply on one's own teaching practice. "They were absolutely invaluable for me," says trainee teacher Lena Kern. "Analyzing myself in the video and receiving feedback from my fellow students was not so pleasant for me at first, but it turned out to be the most efficient method for me to improve so far."

Due to the positive feedback, there are plans to use the microscenes in other seminars on the teacher training course. The project "Micro - The importance of microscenes for teacher training" shows how practice-oriented approaches in teacher training can help to effectively combine theory and practice.