Chapter 6: Debriefing From And Reflecting On Clinical Simulations

Teacher and school leader preparation courses are filled with assignments calling for reflection. The premise is inherently good—preservice school professionals are expected to read about and observe scholastic practices, and then summarize, critique, and apply the reading/observation to their own future scholastic roles. There is value in asking a preservice school leader to closely study and then reflect on some aspect of school administration. That said, there remains a significant problem when school leader preparation programs do not balance cues to reflect with calls for action. Effectively balancing action and reflection, though, requires careful attention so that one learning process is not privileged or negated in favor of the other. To support the experiential nature of this book, where school leaders take action and make decisions in clinical simulations, this chapter focuses on the reflection processes that follow a simulation. Specifically, we examine the rationale behind reflections, focusing on their added value in helping novice school leaders better understand and make meaning from the actions, decisions, and dispositions exhibited within clinical simulations.