Mixed-Reality Simulation in Teacher Preparation: Supporting Clinical Practice and Professional Communication

Abstract

Teacher candidates often enter clinical internships with limited opportunities to rehearse complex interpersonal aspects of teaching, including classroom management and communication with families. Variability across field placements can result in uneven preparation for relational dimensions of practice. This convergent mixed-methods case study examined how sequenced mixed-reality simulations functioned as a clinical preparation component within an undergraduate teacher education program at a regional university in the southeastern United States. Eighty teacher candidates participated in two program-embedded simulations: a classroom management interaction and a parent–teacher conference. Data sources included pre- and post-surveys, observation notes, candidate reflections, and faculty interviews. Findings indicate simulations provided consistent opportunities to rehearse relational practice in a low-risk environment, strengthened candidates’ confidence and professional communication, and connected coursework with clinical experience. Sequencing simulations supported candidates’ progression from managing instructional interactions with students to collaborative conversations with caregivers. Implications for integrating simulation-based rehearsal into clinical program design are discussed.