Enhancing authentic learning experiences in teacher education through 360-degree videos and theoretical lectures: reducing preservice teachers’ anxiety

Preservice teachers (PSTs) often experience professional anxiety when managing their classrooms. These feelings of anxiety can be reduced, and their feelings of self-efficacy increased by training PSTs’ interpersonal competence. This study used authentic learning experiences combining theoretical lectures and 360-degree videos watched with virtual reality headsets, to train their interpersonal competence. Participants of this study were 141 first year PSTs of a teacher education institute in the Netherlands. Results showed that the video-lecture combination led to a reduced professional anxiety and increased self-efficacy. PSTs’ self-perceptions of their own expected interpersonal behaviour indicated that PSTs thought they would be more in control in the actual classroom after the intervention. PSTs attributed these results to exemplary teacher behaviour shown in the 360-degree videos.