Technology in Education, between political demands and teachers' functions. Cross-case analysis from Denmark and Brazil, Nordisk Forening for Pædagogiske Forskere, NERA, Turku, Marts 2020

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NERA 2020 Technology in Education, between political demands and teachers' functions. Cross-case analysis from Denmark and Brazil. Karen Borgnakke, University of Copenhagen, UCPH Magda Pischetola, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio Abstract In the last two decades, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) integration in education has been on the highest agenda for public policies worldwide. At the macro level of the political discourse, the introduction of new tools in the educational context is supposed to change the way pupils access information, elaborate it into knowledge and develop new skills. In addition, it points to teaching reforms, raising demands for 'high professionalism' of the teachers, which includes functions such as 'learning management' and 'digital formation'. At the micro level, we observe teachers at a crossroad between the expectations of the policy-makers, and their concrete activities in situated classroom settings. The contrast about the educational policy discourse and the everyday dilemmas that the professionals face in school contexts raises the need of a better understanding of the teachers' functions. The paper addresses this conflict, referring to results from case studies undertaken in four different countries – Denmark, Italy, Ethiopia and Brazil – between 2000 and 2019. Based on meta-ethnographic analyses across fieldwork, this paper will sharpen the focus on cross-case analysis from Denmark and Brazil and exemplify the main themes and research findings about the practical consequences for teachers' functions. The empirical-analytical framework shows, at the policy level, an increasing amount of top-down policies, which extend the demands for a wider spectrum of teacher functions, such as student-centered and collaborative work in the classroom; group mentoring; ICT-based activities to address the subject matter; interdisciplinary school projects; digital learning management. At the practical level, the meta-analysis explores how these demands created a work overload for teachers, who are expected to integrate ICT in their daily practices, otherwise being considered 'resistant' by academic and political assessments. Cross-case demands and cross-case dilemmas result in a conflict between intentions and practicalities, given by the contextual conditions of the policies implementation process. The paper concludes by discussing how in meta-analysis the decades 2000–2019 are marked by a shift, where the powerful discourse about the ICT-based learning paradigm and top-down directed demands for change did not implement alternative teaching practices, but provided teachers with a greater accumulation of functions. References Borgnakke, K. (2012). Challenges for the Next Generation in Upper Secondary School: Between Literacy, Numeracy, and Technacy. I W. T. Pink (red.), Schools for Marginalized Youth : An International Perspective (s. 117-172). New York: Hampton Press. Understanding Education, Social Justice and Policy. Borgnakke, K., Dovemark, M., & Marques da Silva, S. (red.) (2017). The postmodern professional: Contemporary learning practices, dilemmas and perspectives. London: Tufnell Press. Borgnakke, K. (2019). Ethnographic methods for researching online learning and e-pedagogy. I G. Noblit (red.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.542 Pischetola, M., Heinsfeld, B. D. (2018). Technologies and teacher’s motivational style: A research study in Brazilian public schools.Journal of Educational, Cultural and Psychological Studies, 17, 163-177. Doi: https://doi.org/10.7358/ecps-2018-017-pisc Pischetola, M. (2015).Technology for Inclusion and Change: comparative research studies on one to-one programs in Italy, Ethiopia and Brazil In: Pereira, S. (ed.). Digital Literacy, Technology and Social Inclusion. Making sense of one-to-one computer programmes around the world. Famalição: Humus Lda, p. 129-164.
Original languageEnglish
Publication dateMar 2020
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2020

ID: 237319029