Learning to Conference as a Threshold Skill: Mixed-Reality Simulations in Educational Leadership Programs

• In Event: Innovative Strategies for Leadership Preparation Programs

Abstract

This presentation will discuss a study that explored how aspiring school leaders grappled with threshold concepts related to educational leadership within mixed reality simulations. An collective case study was used to understand the experiences of the participants (n=12) who practiced mixed reality simulations of conferences with subsequent coaching in a learning laboratory in one year of their preparation program. There were three data sources: video observational data of the performances within the simulations and after simulation coaching, both peer and mentor; individual semi-structured interviews; and reflective documents following the simulations. Using both deductive and inductive approaches to data analysis, we found that purposefully planning for using threshold concepts within the simulations led to separation, liminal and professional portals of learning.

Authors

• Jody S. Piro, Western Connecticut State University

• Catherine M OCallaghan, Western CT State University