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WW Executive VP/COO in Hechinger Report

In preparing teachers, there’s nothing like real-world classroom experience… is there?

In reimagining how teachers are taught, the Woodrow Wilson Academy of Teaching and Learning is thoughtfully exploring simulated classrooms, and even virtual reality, as lower-stakes environments for future teachers to hone their skills.

While these tools are promising, as WW Executive VP/COO Stephanie Hill writes in the Hechinger Report, there is still more work to be done before simulation can surpass clinical experience:

[Simulations] can help teacher candidates to develop and hone instincts and responses. They can give candidates practice in intervening, engaging, rewarding, encouraging, and disciplining. But only true interactions, among real people, can lead to the formation of personal relationships between teacher and student.

As the WW Academy experiments with methods like simulation, it will also incorporate lessons from the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship—which has made great strides in teacher preparation and retention by getting Fellows into the classroom for a full school year with an experienced mentor teacher—as well as other programs that have made key advances in the field. The WW Academy aims to find the perfect blend of classroom experience, virtual reality, and competency-based, personalized learning to ensure new teachers are ready for success in any classroom.

Read Dr. Hull’s full piece here.


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