INTERACTIVE TEACHING/LEARNING STRATEGIES FOR LARGE CLASSES: REVITALISING INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION PEDAGOGY, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

Teacher educators are urged to adopt interactive learning strategies for large classes and other alternatives to the lecture method, to model the teacher education, pedagogy, philosophy and strategies so as to develop teacher trainees' pedagogical competence, professional and content knowledge, and to provide opportunities for teacher trainees to learn how to use interactive method for large classes in secondary schools. The use of interactive learning strategies still remains an uphill task for teacher educators given the large classroom enrolment contexts that still predominates undergraduate course at the School of Education, Makerere University but also in the majority of developing universities in the country. Using the constructivism theory of pedagogic practice, this multi-method qualitative case study explored what teacher educators know about large-class interactive teaching/learning strategies and what methods they actually use to facilitate teacher trainees' development of pedagogic competence, and professional knowledge. The participants were twenty (20) third year trainees and ten (10) teacher educators. Results show that teacher educators do not practice such interactive pedagogy and do not pass it on to the teacher trainee as evidenced in the academic year school practice August 2013. Recommendation, all teacher educators should have an orientation course to expose them to the interactive teaching/learning strategies suitable for training teachers.