Educational theater refers to highly structured, formally correct educational activities or systems that prioritize appearance, compliance, and documentation over meaningful learning or transformative impact.
🧠 In medical education, this term describes: Teaching or assessment practices that look rigorous on paper but lack depth, authenticity, or clinical relevance.
Interventions designed more to satisfy accreditation bodies than to improve professional competence.
Learning environments where the simulation of education replaces actual reflection, mentorship, or growth.
🧨 Common examples: Competency-based evaluations like ACGME Milestones when used mechanically, with no critical analysis or correlation to real clinical readiness.
Mandatory modules or checklists that fulfill requirements but do not shape practice.
“Innovative” educational programs that are more focused on metrics and optics than on outcomes.
📌 In short: Educational theater = performative education that mimics learning without producing it.