Clinical Simulations as Signature Pedagogy explores the use of live-actor simulations as an engaging training tool to better prepare educational professionals for school-wide challenges. In this volume, editors Benjamin H. Dotger and Kelly Chandler-Olcott present a persuasive overview of this effective method of professional development and show how it resonates with other practice-based initiatives.

Through original case studies, the book’s contributors demonstrate how live-actor simulations serve as valuable assets in the training of teachers, school counselors, and school leaders. They show how simulations provide a safe shared-learning environment that closely approximates authentic problems of practice while reducing the complexity of the instructional context in manageable ways. The contributors point out how the method standardizes training, ensuring that all candidates have comparable opportunities to practice and master key skills and habits of mind, among other advantages.

Each case study showcases a distinct way in which educational simulations have been used to address common issues confronting educators, such as educational equity, community building, and cultural responsiveness. In addition, the cases highlight subject-specific concerns, from fostering inclusivity in physical education to presenting differing approaches to mathematical problems, for which live-actor simulations provide a dynamic learning context.

Ultimately, this book illustrates why clinical simulations have emerged as a powerful pedagogical tool that holds promise for the professional preparation and continuing education of educators, counselors, and school leaders.