The aim of this course is to familiarise students with the classroom situation by watching video-taped classes and analysing the teaching situation. The students will be exposed to various teaching situations and their attention will be drawn to a number of issues; video-taped lessons will stimulate discussions which will revolve around a wide range of topics (e.g. asking questions, giving instructions, providing feedback). Through guided observation, prospective teachers are expected to gain awareness of effective teaching so that they will make conscious effort to implement some of these techniques in their future practice. As part of this course, students will be encouraged to keep a diary in which they can record their inner thoughts about the topics raised in a particular session. Throughout the course, the need for reflective teaching will be highlighted and the ways in which this can be achieved will be considered. By the end of this course, the participants should be able to: (i) approach the teaching situation critically and (ii) consider a number of teaching options regarding instructions, explanations, feedback, questions, use of teaching aids that could be easily implemented in their own teaching situation. Course textbook and outline/list of readings are available. Assessment: Final exam.
