Developing adaptive professional decision making in preservice primary school teachers through dynamic conflict scenarios

Abstract

This conceptual article examines how preservice primary school teachers can be prepared to make and revise professional decisions in changing conflicts involving pupils and parents. A focused narrative synthesis of research on adaptive expertise, practice-based teacher education, classroom simulation, feedback, and teacher social and emotional competence informs the proposed framework. Adaptive professional decision making is defined as the reasoned modification or retention of an action in response to relevant new evidence while maintaining educational and ethical commitments. The article proposes a training cycle comprising initial interpretation, a provisional decision, disclosure of new information, justified revision, feedback, and transfer to an unfamiliar scenario. An illustrative case demonstrates how this cycle can be implemented through staged role play or a simple digital environment. Five assessment dimensions are specified: evidence interpretation, alternative generation, proportionality and ethical adequacy, justified updating, and transfer. The contribution is a theoretically grounded design for a planned study in primary teacher education in Uzbekistan. The framework has not yet been empirically validated; its effectiveness requires controlled evaluation and delayed assessment.