Teacher educators' infused approach to advance digital competencies at a Faculty of Education

Abstract

This research explored the experiences of five teacher educators at a Faculty of Education in South Africa in an initiative to advance digital competencies through an infused approach. The initiative focused on the digital competencies of pre-service teacher students; however, this study also viewed teacher educators’ engagement as an informal professional development event. It investigated teacher educators’ motivations, experiences, professional development, and second-order role in advancing digital competencies. A lack of research about teacher educators’ teaching of digital competencies supported the rationale for the study. In an exploratory case study design, qualitative data was collected through semi-structured virtual interviews, document analysis, and field notes. The conceptual framework was based on Activity theory and augmented with Existence, Relatedness, and Growth (ERG) theory. The data was analysed using the six-phase reflective thematic analysis process of Braun and Clark. Teacher educators’ motivations to engage in the initiative were found to be complex and dynamic, although the need for Growth and Relatedness from ERG theory played a key role. The research overlaid their actions during the initiative with the digital competencies of South Africa’s Professional Development Framework for Digital Learning to illustrate their authentic engagement. From Activity theory, two tools were identified as crucial to the teacher educators’ engagement: ‘a structured way of work’ and meetings. The identified challenges related to the measurement and accreditation of pre-service teachers’ participation and the longevity of the initiative. The teacher educators showed notable development of their professional digital competence (PDC). Seven attributes of the initiative were identified to align it with a successful professional development event. Teacher educators were found to enact their second-order role in how they modelled digital competencies. The study concludes with a summative finding and visualisation on how teacher educators engaged in the initiative, which served as a theoretical contribution. It also included a methodological contribution and practical contributions on attaining higher engagement in such initiatives, teacher educators’ digital competencies and PDC development, and the role of educational technology departments.