Microteaching Policies

1. Cancellation for Microteaching Sessions

Effective September 2022

Attendance in Microteaching is to be taken extremely seriously. Due to high demand, TATP is unable to accommodate all interested participants and each Microteaching session carries a full waiting list. Therefore, due to inconsideration and abuse of registration and attendance policies, the following attendance policy will now be in effect:

  1. Participants may only register for two Microteaching sessions per term.
  2. Attendance and preparation are expected and last-minute cancellations will not be tolerated. Failure to withdraw three business days prior to a workshop may result in an inability to register in Microteaching for six months. We recommend you only register for microteaching when you have time in your schedule to adequately prepare. If you must cancel, please do so three (3) business days prior to the workshop to allow TATP staff to offer the space to another student.

2. Preparation for Microteaching Sessions

Microteaching sessions are dependent on each participant being 1) ready to teach and 2) ready to provide feedback to their peers. Participants who arrive without adequate preparation not only miss the full benefit of the experience individually, they disrupt and detract from the experience of the group by their inability to fully engage in the process of providing peer-based formative feedback.

For this reason, participants who arrive without a prepared teaching demonstration will be asked to leave. Participants observed preparing a teaching demonstration during the session will be asked to leave. Inadequate preparation and early dismissal from Microteaching sessions will result in a six-month delay in registration.

3. Behaviour & Conduct in Microteaching

Participants in Microteaching are expected to conform to University of Toronto expectations regarding academic and behavioural conduct. Further, presentation of content must conform to University policies that guide teaching and learning environments, such as the Ontario Human Rights Code and Appropriate Use of Information Technology.

Microteaching is a unique environment in which participants work across disciplinary boundaries to learn and share best practices in teaching and presentation skills. As such, it is not an expectation that all participants fully understand how any given subject matter is situated within an academic discipline. For this reason, we rely on the expertise of individual participants to know and present material that is within the bounds of their disciplines.

Given this context and the broader university commitment to Academic Freedom, it is unacceptable to comment in Microteaching sessions on the content of presentations. Comments should be directed to either 1) the presentation skills of participants or 2) the design and execution of a lesson.

Participants in Microteaching should make all necessary efforts to provide feedback in a constructive and collegial manner. TATP Trainers may ask participants to change the tone of their comments or leave a session if uncivil or combative behaviour occurs or persists.