“Take the plunge and give it a try” : Primary school teachers’ perceptions of their role and pedagogical practices in technology-rich classrooms

Abstract

The goal of this study is to shed light on how primary school teachers perceive their role in technology-rich learning environments and how they enact this role in their pedagogical practices. This thesis consists of an extended abstract and three articles. The extended abstract introduces the background and purpose of the study, research questions, the choice of theoretical framework and other relevant concepts, as well as prior research on the theme. The design of the study, methodological choices, and analysis are explained in detail in the method chapter, before discussing the main findings and their affordances at the end of the extended abstract. At the end of the thesis, the three articles delve into some of the main aspects of the study in greater depth and detail. The majority of previous research regarding the use of digital technologies in teaching and learning has been conducted in schools with no heightened focus on digital elements. In an attempt to make new discoveries, the study was conducted in a school that sets high priority to digital competence of their staff and pupils and takes advantage of the opportunities that digital technologies can offer. Therefore, framing the project as a case study was considered a well-founded approach. Furthermore, the case is defined as intrinsic, because the fundamental goal is to understand the case itself, without greater ambition to generalize from the results. In this context, it required an investigation of the case using several instruments, in order to gain a holistic understanding of how teachers with significant training and experience within digital technologies perceive their role and practice their profession. To have a comprehensive and versatile data base for the study, the project was designed as an exploratory sequential study (Creswell & Guetterman, 2021). In contrast to explanatory sequential design, where the cumulative data collection process proceeds from the quantitative to qualitative, an exploratory sequential design explores the case first through qualitative data. Quantitative data – collected in a survey – was thus used to extend and enrich the findings in qualitative data – individual interviews, observation, and focus group interviews. This step was undertaken to improve reliability of the study by confirming some of the qualitative findings and to develop new aspects of the qualitative findings (Creswell & Guetterman, 2021; Hesse-Biber et al., 2015). As the Norwegian educational system builds heavily on the principles of sociocultural learning, sociocultural views are used as the theoretical base for the study. Most importantly, this theoretical approach highlights that learning happens in interaction with others. This not only emphasizes the importance of communication but also the collective nature of learning: we learn best when we learn together. Vygotsky’s theory of zone of proximal development highlights this, as well as the role that the more knowledgeable other has in the interaction and learning processes. In this study, it was discussed how a teacher as the more knowledgeable other approaches their role managing the classroom and instructing pupils as someone who sets structure and helps pupils scaffold and construct new knowledge. Fruitful interaction and collaboration also require an inclusive learning environment where everyone feels safe and able to participate. This is also an obligation for Norwegian schools, stated in Norwegian national core curriculum and legislation. To create such an environment, a teacher needs to practice authoritative classroom management that ensures social, emotional, and academic growth for all learners. Differentiating instruction and promoting pupil participation are prerequisites for such work. There were many findings that partly confirmed findings from previous research, but also provided interesting new perspectives on the topic. The overall perception of the informants regarding how digital technologies influence teacher’s role and enactment of it in their pedagogical practices can be described as both positive and realistic. The informants were well aware of the ideals related to the new role and practices – such as having a more facilitating, exploratory, and inclusive approach – while being realistic about the change and processes related to it being complex, timeconsuming, and ever-changing. The staff found that the school leadership advocated for and supported the development of teachers’ professional digital competence (PDC) and development of mutual practices at a high level, while they also encouraged teachers to experiment with new things without the fear of failing. This, together with close and systematic collaboration with colleagues, were found to be some of the key elements for finding success in exploring and developing their roles and practices. The results were viewed through the lenses of teacher’s role perception, inclusion, differentiated instruction, communication, and collaboration. One of the most interesting findings was that, in contrast to many previous findings from the field, these teachers experienced very little disruptive behaviour or other inappropriate behaviour related to pupils’ use of their personal devices. Not unexpectedly, but surprisingly clearly, given the overall digital profile of the school, teachers with formal education in PDC at a higher education level had a more positive perception of how digital technologies impact the learning environment. They found more advantages regarding the use of digital technologies and were less concerned about challenges, such as distractions or unexpected technology malfunction, than their colleagues with less formal training. Overall, the teachers found that their role had become that more of a facilitator than a traditional role where teacher is the primary source of knowledge. This was modelled in multiple examples, particularly amongst older learners, where the pupils had many opportunities for influencing the learning process and product. On several occasions, teachers modelled exploratory learning, which seemed to encourage pupils to have a somewhat more adventurous approach to the subject matter and activities, as well. Teachers, particularly in grade one, often focused on teaching and discussing strategies that supported pupils in becoming more independent and efficient learners, for instance in communication and collaboration. Despite high ambition and PDC level, the teachers and school leadership acknowledged that there is still a lot more to learn and develop – and there always will be. While digital technologies were weaved in to almost all aspects of teaching and learning and employed in a variety of ways, the pupils could have used some more guidance in developing their competences when given more autonomy in their learning processes. At grade level 1, there was less pupil participation in the learning designs but significantly more emphasis on learning different strategies. In grade level 5, teachers offered pupils multiple opportunities to participate and influence the learning designs and processes, but with less focus on how to refine and developed strategies learned in lower grades. This was evident, for example, in the collective production of multimodal representations of knowledge and approaches to collective learning models.

NORSK SAMMENDRAG: Målet med denne studien er å kaste lys over hvordan lærere i barneskolen oppfatter sin rolle i teknologirike læringsmiljøer, og hvordan de utøver denne rollen i sin pedagogiske praksis. Denne avhandlingen består av en kappe og tre artikler. Kappen introduserer bakgrunnen og formålet med studien, forskningsspørsmål, valg av teoretisk rammeverk og andre relevante konsepter, samt tidligere forskning om temaet. Designet av studien, metodiske valg og analyse blir grundig forklart i metodekapittelet, før hovedfunnene og deres implikasjoner blir diskutert på slutten av kappen. Ved avhandlingens slutt går de tre artiklene mer grundig inn på noen av hovedaspektene ved studien. Det meste av tidligere forskning om bruk av digitale teknologier i undervisning og læring har blitt utført i skoler uten spesiell vekt på digitale elementer. I forsøket på å gjøre nye oppdagelser ble studien gjennomført ved en skole som høyt prioriterer digital kompetanse hos både ansatte og elever, og i stor grad utnytter mulighetene som digitale teknologier kan tilby. Det ble derfor ansett som hensiktsmessig å ramme prosjektet som en case-studie. Videre er «case» i denne studien definert som intrinsisk, da det grunnleggende målet er å forstå denne casen i seg selv, uten ambisjoner om å generalisere fra resultatene. I denne sammenheng betyr dette å undersøke casen ved hjelp av flere instrumenter for å oppnå en helhetlig forståelse av hvordan lærere med betydelig opplæring og erfaring innen digitale teknologier oppfatter sin rolle og utøver sitt yrke. For å ha et omfattende og allsidig datagrunnlag for studien, ble prosjektet designet som en utforskende sekvensiell studie (Creswell & Guetterman, 2021). I motsetning til en forklarende sekvensiell design, der den kumulative datainnsamlingsprosessen går fra kvantitativ til kvalitativ, fokuserer en utforskende sekvensiell design først på kvalitative data. Kvantitative data, samlet inn gjennom en spørreundersøkelse, ble dermed brukt for å utvide og berike funnene i de kvalitative dataene: individuelle intervjuer, observasjon og fokusgruppeintervjuer. Dette steget ble tatt for å forbedre studiens pålitelighet ved å bekrefte enkelte av de kvalitative funnene og bygge nye aspekter ved de kvalitative funnene (Creswell & Guetterman, 2021; Hesse-Biber et al., 2015). [...]