Competition or Cooperation? Views of Moral Education Teacher Trainees on Peer Teaching at the University of Botswana

Forty-three (43) Moral Education student teachers involved in the peer teaching exercise at the University of Botswana (UB) were sampled for the study. The study sought to find out the views of teacher trainees on the peer teaching exercise. Among the important issues the study focused on were the importance (value) of peer teaching, the contribution of teaching methods to peer teaching as well as the strengths and weaknesses of peer teaching. One of the major findings was that the majority of the respondents felt that peer teaching was very important and that the university should ensure that teacher trainees get involved in it before they go for teaching practice. Another major finding was that cooperation outweighed competition in the cooperation-competition dichotomy. The study used a mixed methodology approach, that is, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. A questionnaire, which comprised both closed (Likert-type) and open-ended questions, was used to collect data. The study came out with various recommendations. Of these recommendations, one is that real students should be used during peer teaching sessions and the other is that the number of supervising staff should be increased during the peer teaching exercise.