Emotional, behavioural, and conceptual dimensions of teacher-parent simulations

ABSTRACT

Conducting conversations with students’ parents is an important and constant part of teachers’ professional practice. Teacher education programmes are responsible for preparing the foundations for teacher-parent cooperation; however, throughout the training, there are few opportunities for preservice teachers (PSTs) to practice interacting with parents and it is evident that at the beginning of their career, teachers are insufficiently prepared to manage this aspect of the professional requirements. The current study examined the issue of preparing PSTs to handle parent-teacher relationships, using simulations that involve the participation of a professional actor. Applying a qualitative approach and a case-study methodology, data were collected from 52 PSTs using three tools: written reflections, interviews, and focus groups, in order to learn about PSTs’ perceptions about the simulation experience and its effectiveness in preparing them to handle parent-teacher conversations. Analysis of the findings revealed that the PSTs mentioned three principles that guided their understanding of how to cope with this task, namely, the emotional, behavioural, and conceptual dimensions that came into play through the simulation. This study contributes to our theoretical understanding of the issue by expanding the concept of ‘parental awareness in education’ and by focusing on empathic abilities.

KEYWORDS:

• Parent-teacher conversations
• simulation-based learning
• reflective learning
• theory and practice
• empathy

Acknowledgement

This study was conducted as part of the partnership with the Israeli national program for simulation in education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Orna Levin

Orna Levin is a senior lecturer at the Department of Education in Achva Academic College and serves as the head of the Simulation and Research Center since 2017. Following the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to remote teaching, Levin developed the online clinical simulation model. This model has been supported by the Ministry of Education and the National Program for Simulation Centers in Education, and implemented in all simulation centers in the country. Levin is a research fellow in the field of simulation at the Mofet Institute. In her research Levin studies various aspects of simulation-based learning as a tool in the education arena.