Developing teachers’ professional identity through conflict simulations

ABSTRACT In recent decades, live simulation has been introduced into teacher training in the USA, Europe and Asia in order to better prepare students for teaching in class. The current study sought to examine the effect of using live simulations of conflict management on the formation of professional identity among Israeli students in a multicultural teacher education college. The study included 145 B.Ed. and M.Ed. students attending an Israeli teacher education college. Data were collected using the teachers’ professional identity scale, teachers’ identity conflicts scale and an open-ended questionnaire about the advantages and challenges of teaching-learning through simulations. The content analysis of the open-ended questions supported the SEM findings and showed that the less central, cognitive and emotion-arousing the conflict, and the higher its level of resolution, the stronger the professional identity formation among the intervention group members. The research conclusion is that learning through conflict simulations contributes to the development of pre-service teachers’ professional identity.