Session Information
16 SES 01A, Pedagogical Practices and ICT Use around the World: Findings from the IEA International Comparative Study SITES2006 (Part 1)
Symposium to be continued in 16 SES 2A
Time:
2008-09-10
09:15-10:45
Room:
B4 415
Chair:
Tjeerd Plomp
Discussant:
Karl Steffens
Contribution
SITES2006 is the third round of data collection about pedagogical reforms and the use of ICT in schools (respectively: SITES Module1, Sites Module 2 and SITES2006). One of the main questions that were addressed in SITES-Module 2 (Kozma, 2003) and other studies regarding pedagogy and ICT was: ‘Which conditions are likely to lead to sustainable development’. From SITES-Module 2 and other studies (e.g. Jones, 2004; Scrimshaw, 2004) it appeared that, next to conditions at the teacher level (such as confidence, level of access, lack of time, resistance to change), conditions at the school (and even supra-school) level are crucial for initiating and implementing sustainable developments (Owston, 2003). In general one may state that the school climate should be favourable for stimulating and supporting teachers to make changes in their pedagogical approaches. More specifically and after an initial stage of orientation, at the start of school-wide reforms a common vision should be established (among the main players, e.g. teachers and school management) about desired pedagogical approaches and the role of ICT in the school. The development of such a vision requires serious efforts from the school leadership by, for instance:
• Involving teachers in making decisions about future directions
• Organizing staff development
• Organizing technical and pedagogical support
Just as it is often argued that individual teachers cannot bring about a sustainable school-wide change, currently it is increasingly believed that single schools cannot bring about system-level change: the vision of schools (Owston, 2003) needs to be consistent with external policy visions (including the operationalizations of these visions in the intended curriculum, examination regulations, and the like). If teachers need to change their behavioural repertoire (by for instance adjusting their roles or by adopting new didactical approaches) they need to be trained and, hence, the school leadership (with the backing of school external forces, e.g. the ministry of education) needs to facilitate that teachers attend training courses (be it inside or outside the school). When it concerns the use of ICT it is important that teachers can receive technical and pedagogical support when needed.
It goes without saying that the use of ICT implies the availability and accessibility of equipment. Also continuous staff development is an important condition for sustainability.
Indicators for the school-level conditions that are mentioned above were operationalized in SITES2006 in school questionnaires (one for school principals and one for technology coordinators).
Respondents from random samples of roughly 400 schools from 22 education systems answered the questionnaires. This paper will provide international comparative descriptions on the following set of indicators:
• Pedagogical vision of school leaders and adopted pedagogical approaches
• ICT infrastructure (availability of computers, Internet connectivity, software, needs)
• Staff development: requirements for staff development, availability of courses, training needs
• Pedagogical and technical support: availability
• Management and organization: school policies, community of practice
References
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