Abstract:

Research aim:
The aim of this paper is to explore teacher educators’ readiness for pedagogical change in relation to external expectations and the digital transformation of society. Teacher educators’ readiness for change is investigated through individual innovativeness, motivation to innovate, and attitudes towards technology.
The research questions are the following:
1. To what extent do teacher educators look for new methods and resources?
2. To what extent are teacher educators motivated to innovate their professional practice?
3. To what extent do teacher educators see the need for pedagogical change due to digital transformation?

Theoretical framework:
In this paper teacher educators’ innovativeness is explored through the concept of novelty seeking understood as an ‘internal drive or motivating force’ towards novelty or acquisition of new information (Hirschman, 1980, p. 284). Regarding teacher educators’ motivation to innovate their professional practice, it is investigated through content goals (Wentzel, 2000) and potential feasibility and desirability of goal-motivated actions (Gollwitzer, 2012). Teacher educators’ attitudes towards technology are discussed in relation to Norwegian and European frameworks for the development of teachers’ digital competences (Fucci, 2016; Kelentrić et al., 2017).

Methodology:
The data was collected with an electronic questionnaire in the period December-March 2023/2024. The sample comprises 140 teacher educators from eight higher education institutions in Norway. The survey was used to collect background data, such as age, gender and years of experience, and data on different aspects of implementation of pedagogical innovations.

Initial results:
The results revealed that teacher educators in Norway do innovate their professional practice through the search for and implementation of new methods and resources, including digital ones. Regarding motivation to innovate, teacher educators are motivated to change their practice in relation to professional goals specified in the questionnaire. The results also indicated that teacher educators understand the need for the development of new competences and the use of digital resources.

References:
[1] Fucci, M. (2016, June 15). Digital Competence Framework for Educators (DigCompEdu) [Text]. EU Science Hub - European Commission.
[2] Gollwitzer, P. M. (2012). Mindset Theory of Action Phases. In P. Van Lange, A. Kruglanski, & E. Higgins, Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology: Volume 1 (pp. 526–546). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446249215.n26
[3] Hirschman, E. C. (1980). Innovativeness, Novelty Seeking, and Consumer Creativity. Journal of Consumer Research, 7(3), 283. https://doi.org/10.1086/208816
[4] Kelentrić, M., Helland, K., & Arstorp, A.-T. (2017). Professional digital competence framework for teachers in Norway. The Norwegian Centre for ICT in Education.
[5] Midgley, D. F., & Dowling, G. R. (1978). Innovativeness: The Concept and Its Measurement. Journal of Consumer Research, 4(4), 229.
[6] Wentzel, K. R. (2000). What Is It That I’m Trying to Achieve? Classroom Goals from a Content Perspective. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 105–115.

Keywords:

Pedagogical innovation, educational change, teacher education, digital transformation.