Teacher Practice Spaces: Examples and Design Considerations

Abstract

Teacher practice spaces are learning environments, inspired by games and simulations, that allow teachers to rehearse for and reflect upon important decisions in teaching. Practice-based teacher educators use a variety of approaches to simulation in methods courses and other professional learning opportunities, and existing simulations often attempt to holistically replicate authentic teaching conditions. We extend this work by developing new kinds of practice spaces that do not attempt to fully simulate teaching, but rather offer playful and creative opportunities for novice teachers to develop skills and dispositions valuable for teachers. We summarize six different practice spaces developed through design research, and then articulate a set of design considerations emerging from this work to expand the genre of pedagogies of enactment in teacher professional development.