A Case Study on Teacher Educators’ Technology Professional Development based on Student Teachers’ Perspectives in Malawi

Foster Gondwe

doi:10.5334/jime.613

Abstract

Student teachers’ perspectives on how their teacher educators act as exemplars of using technology appropriately (or fail to do so) could create a basis for teacher educators’ technology professional development (TPD). However, there is a dearth of research on student teachers’ input into teacher educators’ TPD, as research is dependent on self-reports of teacher educators’ own competencies. This study explored teacher educators’ TPD based on perspectives of student teachers. The study involved policy analysis, a survey, and interviews with student teachers in a university-based teacher education programme in Malawi. Findings indicate that student teachers have a stake in what it means to be a professional teacher educator in Malawi. The case study has also shown the contribution of student teachers’ perspectives in strengthening teacher educators’ TPD. The contribution includes clarifying the image of a technologically competent teacher educator and student teachers’ co-learning with teacher educators. The paper discusses scholarly and practical implications of these findings. For instance, it is suggested that teacher educators should make the co-learning process more explicit to the student teachers.

Highlights

IntroductionWhile previous research provides insights into what constitutes effective professional development models and what the teacher educators learn from them, little is known about how the professional development models support the development of technology competencies relating to specific professional roles such as being a second-order teacher (Uerz, Volman & Kral 2018)
We present results of the first research question: how does teacher education policy position student teachers as contributors to the professional development of teacher educators in Malawi? Generally, the findings support the assumptions of Social Learning Theory and Personal Practical Knowledge, especially as they position teacher educators as learners who can learn from student teachers (Lidolf & Pasco 2020)
Results indicate commonality in some professional competencies between teacher educators and student teachers, which underpins the significance of co-learning between teacher educators and student teachers

Summary

Introduction

While previous research provides insights into what constitutes effective professional development models and what the teacher educators learn from them, little is known about how the professional development models support the development of technology competencies relating to specific professional roles such as being a second-order teacher (Uerz, Volman & Kral 2018). Researchers have focused on proposing specific teacher educator technology competencies that can guide technology professional development (TPD) for teacher educators. Definitions of teacher educators’ technology competencies vary from “being able to use certain technologies, to feeling comfortable in using technology, to being proficient in a wide variety of technologies, to swiftly adopting emerging technologies and being knowledgeable about (the impact of) technology in general” (Uerz, Volman & Kral 2018: 18). In this article technology competence is defined as the ability to use technology in one’s professional role as a teacher educator

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