Using Mixed-Reality Simulations to Develop Preservice Teachers' Family Engagement Skills

• In Event: Using Simulations to Prepare Teachers for Equitable Education

Abstract

Purpose
A lack of focus on family engagement in teacher preparation (Epstein, 2013) leads to in-service teachers struggling to build collaborative partnerships with families, especially with marginalized families (Hong, 2011; Lawrence-Lightfoot, 2004). Building preservice teachers’ (PSTs) family engagement skills requires realistic practice opportunities (Walker & Dotger, 2011). Nevertheless, teacher preparation is brief, and mentor teachers are often reluctant to let inexperienced novices lead family interactions (Dotger et al., 2008).
Theoretical Frames
Simulated practice opportunities provide one way for PSTs to build knowledge and comfort engaging with families (Walker & Legg, 2018). Simulations are typically both brief and intentionally less complex than real classrooms; they are approximations (e.g., Grossman et al., 2009) through which PSTs receive feedback and build targeted skills (Theleen et al., 2019).
All high-quality family engagement is positive, trust-building, asset-based, and collaborative (Mapp & Kutner, 2019). This is true for family conferences, which tend to position the teacher as expert (Lawrence-Lightfoot, 2004) and for home visits, which ideally position the family as expert (Authors, 2020). The particular elements of high-quality interactions include setting the purpose, collaborating, and engaging respectfully (Walker & Dotger, 2011).
Methods, Data Sources, and Analysis
We used deductive coding (Miles et al, 2014) on transcripts from four Mursion simulations (two family conferences and two home visits per PST) for a cohort of 36 enrolled in a mid-Atlantic U.S. university-based elementary preparation program. We used a modified version of Walker and Dotger’s work to develop the codes (e.g., opening, responding to disclosures in a variety of ways, planning for action) and then we used Mapp and Kutner’s framework to delineate typical, exceptional, and problematic interactions.
Findings
Typical interactions involved full engagement in the meeting and focus on the child but missed opportunities to engage with the parent. Exceptional interactions went further by not side-stepping difficult moments and by engaging with the parent as a human in their own right. Problematic interactions involved PSTs diminishing, ignoring, condescending, or not fully engaging.
The vast majority of the interactions across all time points were typical. Participants who started with problematic interactions generally improved somewhat over time, but rarely to exceptional. Participants who started with exceptional interactions continued to have typical to exceptional interactions over time. In terms of the simulations themselves – how the “interactor” enacted the “script” –we found that the family conference simulation was more standardized than the home visit simulation.
Significance
Simulated family engagement opportunities allow for a relatively standardized experience through which TCs are able to approximate practice. Analyzing the four parent engagement simulations over time provided a measure of individual PSTs’ development and trends across the cohort over time, allowing us to iterate the experiences with future cohorts and offer more targeted coaching and feedback. Simulations provide instructors opportunities to match the level of difficulty of practice to the needs of PSTs (Issenberg et al., 2005). By providing these opportunities for approximations of practice during PSTs’ training, we can prepare teachers to engage positively, productively, and respectfully with all families.

Authors

• Judy Paulick, University of Virginia

• Rose Sebastian, University of Virginia

• Charlotte DeHaven Blain, University of Virginia