Abstract:

The digitalisation of schools requires the integration of digital technologies (DT) into their routines, especially for the innovation of pedagogical practices (PP). All teachers play an important role in this process, but there is a tendency to assume that Informatic teachers (IT) are its main drivers. Few studies focus on this group of teachers and, therefore, knowing more about how they use DT to innovate PP is important.

Pedagogical innovation is a change sought by the teacher to improve teaching and learning in a reflective way. It involves the promotion of active methodologies in which students take responsibility for their learning, the inclusion of students' real interests in learning designs and the transformation of practices, in this case with the support of DT [1]. The transformation is often supported by the sharing of experiences among colleagues in the same school [2]. Indeed, a teacher who innovates pedagogically promotes knowledge exchanges, contributing to the shared development of new approaches and acting as a source of inspiration for colleagues [3]. As such, pedagogical innovators are teachers who inspire and influence their colleagues to experiment, learn and innovate, because of the pedagogical practices and dynamics they implement in their school with the support of DT.

This article explores the perceptions of teachers (N=101) to answer the following questions:
i) how innovative are IT in their pedagogical use of digital technologies?
ii) what influence do IT have on the pedagogical practices of their peers?

To answer these questions, an online survey was applied to teachers from a School Association Training Centre in the central region of Portugal. Except for IT, all primary and secondary education teachers were invited to answer. Participation was voluntary and consented, and the application took place between April and May 2022.

Preliminary results suggest the pedagogical use of digital technologies by IT is not perceived as very innovative. Teachers do not refer to IT when they seek to learn about a new pedagogical approach, and they admit IT teachers are not the ones who most share and implement innovative pedagogical approaches with DT. However, IT are the first ones they seek when a technical problem arises, and they trust IT to get advice on which digital technology is more appropriate to implement a given pedagogical approach. Results also suggest that, in general, teachers do not feel influenced by IT to innovate pedagogically with digital technologies.

It is necessary to deepen these results by collecting more data, including from students, and of a more qualitative nature, to answer the research questions raised in a more comprehensive way.

Acknowledgement:
This work is financially supported by National Funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. under the project UIDB/00194/2020 and 2021.03379.CEECIND.

References:
[1] Elkayam, T. (2022). What is pedagogical innovation? Perceptions of teacher educators in Israel, Pedagogies: An International Journal. DOI: 10.1080/1554480X.2022.2106232
[2] Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M., & Thomas, S. (2006). Professional Learning Communities: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 221–258. DOI: 10.1007/S10833-006-0001-8
[3] Redecker, C. (2017). European framework for the digital competence of educators: DigCompEdu (JRC107466). Publications Office of the European Union. DOI: 10.2760/159770

Keywords:

Innovative pedagogical practices, digital pedagogical practices, ICT teachers, digital competence, digital technology, innovation.