Considering Face, Rights, and Goals: A Critical Review of Rapport Management in Facilitator-Guided Simulation Debriefing Approaches

Statement The rapport between facilitators and learners contributes to a conducive learning environment during simulation debriefing, but a theory to guide rapport management (RM) is lacking. The RM model is a potentially relevant conceptual framework because it describes three interrelated components of rapportface, rights, and goalswhich, when threatened, affect the rapport between interactants. This critical review explores how studies in the simulation debriefing literature describing postevent facilitator-guided debriefing approaches can be viewed through the lens of the RM model. All 34 identified studies alluded to at least one component of rapport, with less than half alluding to all three. There is preliminary evidence that the management of all three components of rapport during debriefing may contribute to improving short-term learning outcomes. Future studies could explore how the RM model can be used to guide debriefing approaches in various contexts and clarify why or how these approaches work.