Democracy and social justice increasingly play out in the digital context as digital ‘technology is already embedded in, and entangled with, existing social practices and economic and political systems’ (Knox, 2019: 3). Digital technology is increasingly prevalent in schools across the world and is often positioned, by policy, as a means to close attainment gaps (Scottish Government, 2016) and ‘level the field of opportunity for students’ (US Department of Education, 2017). This suggests that digital technology has a key role to play in relation to equity, justice, and inclusion, to education for democracy. However, digital technology has been observed to ‘exacerbate pre-existing inequalities, establish new ones and further marginalise communities’ (Hall et. al., 2020: 436). Student-teachers need to be prepared to navigate digital spaces, digital spaces which are susceptible to manipulation. Democracy and global citizenship increasingly play out online where filter bubbles (Berners-Lee, 2014), algorithms (Tufekci, 2016) and corporations (Bollier, 2010) manipulate what is accessed. Understanding how digital tools and spaces inform student-teachers knowledge and understanding, and the development of their pedagogic beliefs, is therefore a pertinent concern. In Scotland, a democratic European country, school education is informed by professional values which espouse social justice and sustainability. Scottish education works on a presumption of inclusion (Scottish Government, 2019) with research, teacher-education and professional development promoting inclusive pedagogy (Florian, 2016). In this research study the professional development of student-teachers, during a one-year Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) teaching qualification was observed, with consideration of the digitised context of the 21st century. The programme which the student-teachers were enrolled onto had been recently redesigned to support the student-teachers journey towards becoming agentive professionals; with the development of a digital portfolio to support praxis (connecting theory and practice) on placement, and a re-designed assessment structure which provided multiple opportunities for professional dialogue and collaboration. The research applied a thematic approach analysing qualitative data which included interviews, surveys, visual mapping, and learning artefacts. Analysis observed how the local was situated in the global. Digital technology ‘nudged’ practice, promoting small changes at a local level which reflected global discourses of neo-liberalism and accountability (Peters, 2020). As education moves into an era where digital technologies are increasingly ‘embedded across everyday aspects of teachers work’ (Starkey, 2020: 49) it is important that we, as teacher-educators, are aware of the ways in which the digital context impacts student-teachers professional development.

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