Assessing adaptive professional decision making in dynamic conflict situations among prospective primary school teachers

Abstract

This article develops a conceptual framework for assessing adaptive professional decision making among prospective primary school teachers in dynamic conflict situations. Its focus is the quality of the transition from an initial decision to a subsequent response when relevant information changes. A focused conceptual analysis connects research on situation-specific competence, professional noticing, simulation-based learning, feedback, and transfer with the design of staged pedagogical cases. The proposed assessment framework distinguishes evidence recognition, reinterpretation, alternative evaluation, justified decision revision or retention, and independent transfer. An illustrative teacher-parent conflict demonstrates how successive information updates can make the reasoning process visible. The article proposes an analytic rubric, a decision-record format, and a prospective validation strategy. These are methodological proposals rather than validated instruments or empirical findings. The central argument is that adaptability should be assessed through the appropriateness and justification of a response to changing evidence, rather than through the frequency of changing an answer. The framework is intended to inform teacher education and subsequent empirical investigation in Uzbekistan.