Teachers’ perceptions of the barriers and drivers for the integration of Informatics in primary education

Abstract

A growing trend of integrating and teaching Informatics and Computational Thinking (CT) skills at primary education levels poses different challenges for teachers. Research demonstrates that it is challenging to introduce Informatics in schools without well-prepared teachers. In this paper, we examine Lithuanian teachers' perceptions of the barriers and drivers to integrate the renewed Informatics curricula in primary education and the relation between them. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with primary school teachers, and a mixed-methods approach was employed to analyze them. The results show that explicit guidelines for renewed curricula and motivation to learn Informatics are both identified as the main barriers and drivers for integrating Informatics. The study further highlights the critical role of resources, appropriate tools, and guidelines in facilitating the successful implementation of Informatics. The study provides knowledge that could, for instance, benefit teacher training programmes and help better understand how teachers can be better supported to meet current and future challenges.