Abstract:

The urgency of digitalization in European countries’ education has been highlighted in a number of strategic documents and policy initiatives of the European Union for at least the last two decades. In a general European perspective, the decade between 2010 and 2020 has emerged as a key one, prioritizing the development of digital competences of all participants in the education sector, as a prerequisite for accelerated digital transformation of the education systems in all EU countries. All field-related framework competencies developed during and post this period have the potential to be utilized in multiple directions, namely: direct and timely implementation through reforms in the curricula, including, but not limited to national level educational system programs; re/design and modelling of the qualifications’ skill-set of the latest generation of teachers within their basic training and continuing development scope; preparation and creation of a holistic approach to the development of digitally transformed education organizations.

Developed in 2017 by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the Common European Framework for Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu) is based on the thesis that the teaching profession is one of the most dynamic professions, and as such should respond to the rapidly changing trends in all areas of social practice. This requires pedagogical professionals to develop broad clusters of competences to be able to support young people for life as it is in the 21st century, where digitalization is a leading factor and is exponentially developing further.

The paper presents preliminary and at the same time the first data for Bulgaria from the application of initial Bulgarian approbation/adaptation of the SELFIE instrument, developed on the basis of the DigCompEdu framework, which examines the self-assessment of secondary school teachers in terms of their digital pedagogical competences in the six areas addressed in the framework.

In the study, conducted in an approbational/ convenient sample (N=281) of teachers in Bulgarian secondary schools, evidence of basic psychometric properties of the self-assessment scale/instrument was sought, as well as the way in which respondents self-assessed in terms of the six key areas of digital pedagogical competences.

With regards to the first research aspect, the Bulgarian version of the 32-item instrument shows good internal consistency, measured by Cronbch's coefficient alpha, both in terms of the whole scale (α = 0.8965) and of its individual components. The intercorrelations between the subscales of the instrument show between high and very high values of the magnitude of the effect, which indicates the monolithicity and homogeneity of the measured construct.

With regards to the second research aspect, the preliminary data showed that the participants in this survey rated the level of their digital competences at or below average on the six competence clusters. The average values across the scales range from M=1.8 (as the lowest value) for the scales "supporting the formation of learners' digital competences" and "empowering learners" to M=2.3 (as the highest value) for the "professional engagement" scale.

The accumulated results suggest important implications towards the shaping of future national policies and practices aimed at the future qualifications of teachers in the area of digitalization.

Keywords:

Pedagogical digital competences, education, secondary teachers, DigCompEdu.