FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE: REFLECTIVE MICROTEACHING EXPERIENCES AND PROFESSIONAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the transformative role of the microteaching process in teacher education through a hermeneutic phenomenological perspective grounded in teacher candidates’ lived experiences, perceptions and professional awareness. While previous studies have mainly focused on teaching skills and performance outcomes, limited attention has been given to how teacher candidates experience and interpret this process and how their professional perceptions change throughout the experience. The study was conducted with 37 teacher candidates enrolled in a faculty of education. Data were collected through focus group interviews and reflective journals and analyzed using thematic analysis based on deductive and inductive approaches. The findings revealed seven major themes: perceptions prior to the microteaching process, utilization of the curriculum, selection of theories, strategies, methods and techniques, classroom management experiences, the feedback process, classroom dynamics and evaluation of the microteaching process. The findings indicate that microteaching provides a transformative learning experience that enables teacher candidates to translate theoretical knowledge into practice, develop pedagogical reasoning and reflective thinking skills and reconstruct their perceptions of the teaching profession. The study highlights microteaching as an experiential learning environment that supports professional meaning-making and identity development in teacher education.