Exploring digital transformation of teacher education in the Western Balkans: Case of Kosovo

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The whole educational system from pre-university to university level has been challenged with the immediate pressure to transform during the lockdown period of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The question of how to ensure digital transformation in universities become topical at policy, institutional, and classroom practice dimensions. OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study is to examine and explore how digital transformation in higher education in Kosovo is conceptualised in a changing context. The study focuses on teacher education as a pathway that links pre-university education with higher education system to ensure future teacher preparation. METHODS: The study used a qualitative research design. The data were collected through interviews with management staff (n = 3) and teacher educators (n = 7), and group interviews with student teachers (n = 15), at the University in Kosovo and teacher education institution. Following the principles of the hermeneutical circle, conceptualisations of digital transformation in teacher education were clustered into the following dimensions: (i) policy, (ii) organisation culture and management, and (iii) teaching and learning. RESULTS: The paper analyses the Western Balkans, specifically Kosovo, as the country faced the transition challenges including institutional building, limited administrative capabilities, and other challenges regarding educational process and digitalization. The paper contributes to the discussions with the emerging conceptualisations of digital transformation in teacher education by drawing from thematic areas concerning policy response mechanisms, teacher education policy as isolated from higher education framework, change management process, missing organisational culture, rigidity and resistance in teaching. CONCLUSIONS: The paper concludes that teacher education context should be reconceptualised within the higher education framework to better manage a transition and change settings for a shared conceptualisation and sustainable digital transformation.