TEL Quality Matters: The Significance of Teacher Pedagogical Beliefs

The strategic promotion of technology enhanced learning (TEL) continues across all sectors of Irish education through a number of high-profile national initiatives (Department of Education and Skills, 2015; National Forum,... [ view full abstract ]

The strategic promotion of technology enhanced learning (TEL) continues across all sectors of Irish education through a number of high-profile national initiatives (Department of Education and Skills, 2015; National Forum, 2016; SOLAS, 2015). Similarly the development of institutional standalone digital learning strategies and/or teaching and learning frameworks which embed the use of digital technologies have become more common and ongoing. A growing body of literature, however, acknowledges that irrespective of whether or not a formal strategy exists, the quality of TEL and related educational outcomes greatly depends on teachers’ underlying pedagogical beliefs. Simply developing teachers’ confidence in the use of TEL overlooks the role that deep-seated pedagogical beliefs play in shaping their decisions with regard to how (and indeed, whether or not) they integrate technology within their educational practices. Arguably this key point is one of the major takeaways from over 30 years of TEL research (for instance, Becker & Ravitz, 1999) and more recently is evident in the work of Deng et. al (2014) within second-level education and Owens (2015) at higher education level. Put another way, as Tondeur et. al (2017) argue, the integration of TEL can only be fully understood when teachers’ pedagogical beliefs are taken into account.

Based on this premise, this research paper considers to what extent the focus on and significance of teachers’ underlying pedagogical beliefs and assumptions with regard to the effective use of TEL have featured in Irish education. Through content analysis, desk-based research and first-hand experience the paper explores the presence (or not) of this fundamental consideration within Irish policy documents and professional development frameworks that are shaping the integration of digital technologies within and across the continuum of education in Ireland. The results of this analysis is then discussed in the context of institutional strategies and through recent case studies that consider the pedagogical use of TEL from a more disruptive and transformative perspective. We conclude by critically reflecting upon the significance of the contemporary research literature on teachers’ pedagogical beliefs in terms of promoting quality and future policy and strategy developments.