The interaction between primary teachers’ perceptions of ICT and their pedagogy

Abstract

A qualitative, case study approach was used to investigate the perceptions and pedagogy of a small group of teachers working within one school, Carberry Junior School in England. The study was carried out during an eighteen-month period of significant change in primary schools responding to the UK Government’s National Grid for Learning (NGfL) initiative and its impact on models of access to ICT resources and expectations in teaching and pupil achievement. The paper highlights the teachers’ perceptions of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a social and cultural phenomenon, as an ambiguous area constructed as a discrete subject, curriculum resource and higher-order capability, and as a “new” field in primary schools. An interactive model is proposed to describe the interaction of the teachers’ perceptions and pedagogy. The case study can offer insight to a consideration of professional development with ICT in primary schools during a period of rapid change in resource provision and expectations of teachers’ use of ICT to support teaching and learning.Key wordselementary educationsocial contextsresearchprofessional developmentchange