Teaching is a very stressful profession. Researchers point out that one of the sources for that stress is dealing with challenging student behavior . By challenging, we mean behavior that is oppositional, defiant and overall uncooperative. Handling disciplinary issues or better, not being able to handle disciplinary issues, is one of the major reasons for teacher attrition (Ingersoll, 2001a· 2001b), particularly for novice teachers. Moreover, failed attempts at managing challenging behavior in the classroom is a cause for many hours of instruction lost. Self efficacy, the perceived ability to influence outcomes (Bandura, 1977), is very important for teachers (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007). Teachers' low self-efficacy in managing student behavior is considered one of the variables that have a longitudinal effect on teacher burnout (Brouwers & Tomic, 2000). Pre-service (prospective) teachers while attending university they are informed about behavior disorders and strategies to deal with them. It is only only probable, however, that while placed at a practicum, pre-service teachers do not come into contact with behaviors that we would consider challenging. The supervision provided by a professional teacher during teaching practice takes away from the novice the authenticity of the teaching experience and short but eliminates the chance of having to deal with problems of student conduct. Giving teachers the opportunity to deal with challenging behaviors in a controlled environment with the appropriate supervision would improve their level of professional preparedness or effectiveness (if already professionals) and decrease their chances of developing burnout and eventually dropping out of the profession. Such an opportunity can be simulated by using Virtual Reality technology in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) includes simulated students (Avatars) that provide teachers the opportunity to develop their pedagogical practice in a safe environment that doesn’t place real students at risk. Through the experience of training in a VLE prospective teachers practice the management skills they need to become effective in their chosen professions, and pre-service teachers can hone and refine their skills. For the purposes of our project participating pre-service and professional teachers will be teaching one STEM or one language based subject (Language, history etc) while supervised by an experience trainer. In the VLE the teachers will respond to student-avatars who may exhibit some kind of inattentive, oppositional of defiant behavior. Overall VIRTUOUS intends to create a compendium of all behavior management techniques and methods that have been documented to be effective and develop a training curriculum that will teach those skills. A number of teaching scripts (scenarios) aligned with that curriculum will be developed in the context of teaching STEM and language based subjects (Language, History, Religion). We will develop the student-avatars and a Virtual Learning Environment in which the trainee will be enacting the scenarios and finally evaluate the effectiveness of our program. There will be 10 participants (5 novice or prospective teachers, 5 professional teachers) who will be trained in a VLE to exercise their behavior management skills. Our intention is to develop a new paradigm for training teachers by creating an environment with ample opportunities for trainees to develop, or hone behavior management skills. We aspire to further develop this paradigm so as to encompass all teaching subjects and eventually offer a convincing case to universities or schools of pedagogy to adopt our paradigm as the least threatening, full of training opportunities, inexpensive and effective way of imparting new skills to prospective teachers.
Through the implementation of the VIRTUOUS project we, the partners, wanted to establish two main goals: 1) To create a compendium of all behavior management techniques and methods that have been documented to be effective and 2) To develop a training curriculum that will teach those skills. Towards those two main goals, a literature review and a teacher survey (in the partners' countries) will identify teachers' knowledge, attitudes and practices in the identification and management of challenging behaviors. Further, based on these findings a training curriculum was developed, which was, in turn, converted into teaching scripts (scenarios) that were developed in a Virtual Learning Environment that could assist trainees (i.e., active duty teachers as well as future teachers, students) in managing challenging behavior patterns in school classrooms. Following the creation of the VR application, we held a training session for teachers and college students to demonstrate the VR application and the Curriculum. We also wrote a best practice manual in order to document all our steps for future reference.
The partners of the VIRTUOUS program wanted to create a series of materials (a training curriculum and a Virtual Learning Environment by means of a Virtual Reality Application and the use of Virtual Reality Headset) that could be used by active duty teachers (as well as future teachers, i.e, student teachers) to identify and manage difficult and challenging behavioral patterns exhibited by students in classrooms every day. As educators and education technology experts, the partners of the VIRTUOUS program, realized that providing serving and future teachers with the means to properly identify, manage, and respond to challenging and disruptive behaviors exhibited by students in their classrooms may be beneficial to not only teachers but the entire school community and other interested educational organizations. Giving teachers the opportunity to deal with challenging behaviors in a controlled environment with the appropriate supervision was thought to improve their level of professional preparedness or effectiveness (if already professionals) and decrease their chances of developing burnout and eventually dropping out of the profession. Such an opportunity could be simulated by using Virtual Reality technology.