Curriculum Leadership and the Development of ICT in Education Competencies of Pre-service Teachers in South China

Abstract

Based on the collective case study of two teacher education programs at a normal university in South China, this paper examines the role of curriculum leadership in the development of information and communication technology (ICT) in education competencies of pre-service teachers. The two cases allow comparisons to uncover the complex interrelationship of components in curriculum leadership system and its role in the ICT in education curriculum structure and content, and ICT in education competencies of pre-service teachers. As the self-assessed pre-service teachers’ technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) perception is more likely to be a good predictor of their ICT in education competencies, a total of 99 pre-service teachers in the two programs were surveyed to examine their self-assessment of the TPACK. The study employed the sequential mixed-method approach. Data from this survey supported by documents and interviews suggest that curriculum leadership has an impact on pre-service teachers’ ICT in education competencies. The curriculum leaders at the university level [e.g., the Vice -President (Academic)] provide support in terms of policy formulation and resource allocation. Subordinate school level curriculum leaders [e.g., the Vice-Dean (Academic)] have a significant impact on the ICT in education curriculum structure, course objectives and academic credit management; whereas curriculum leaders at the classroom level (e.g., course coordinators or lecturers) have a significant impact on course content and pedagogy. The findings also suggest that (1) curriculum leadership shapes and is shaped by the teacher education program; (2) sustained efforts are required to improve coordination and communication between different curriculum leadership levels; and (3) feedback and reflections of pre-service teachers’ ICT learning experiences are important to inform the practices of the curriculum leaders.