21/11/2019

Teacher educators in initial teacher education play an important role in the preparation of student teachers for their future careers, and, indeed, often have a career-long influence on their teaching. But are the teacher educators themselves adequately prepared to play this role as digital technologies impact on both the classroom and the nature of teaching?

Teacher educators in initial teacher education play an important role in the preparation of student teachers for their future careers, and, indeed, often have a career-long influence on their teaching. But are the teacher educators themselves adequately prepared to play this role as digital technologies impact on both the classroom and the nature of teaching?

This is a question addressed in two case studies arising from the ITELab project. Edited by Eli-Marie Danbolt Drange and Kjerstin Breistein Danielsen, University of Agder, Norway, the studies describe how two institutions work on the development of Teacher Educators' pedagogical digital competence.

Østfold University College, Norway, has a compulsory Programme for Competence Development for all teacher educators, viewed as part of their ongoing professional development so that they can be role models for student teachers to that their tutors experiment with technology in teaching. The institution has opened a Learning Support Centre for tutors where they can find support and help for both technical and pedagogical questions, and staff who can assist when trying out new digital resources or methods. "it is important to work collaboratively with colleagues and try out digital tools together and reflect on the learning involved," as one of the interviewees noted.

The Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Portugal, has three units to support tutors' competence development: an ICT Competence Centre (one of ten in Portugal) which depends on the Ministry of Education, a technology centre for training both in-service teachers and teacher educators, and an e-learning unit developing best practice models for e-learning environments and MOOCs. Teacher educators work in teams to develop their competences, trying out new methods and learning from each other in both virtual spaces and classrooms. The institute has started to develop new learning spaces, on the assumption that changing the environment changes practices. As one of the interviewees says, "Teacher educators have many responsibilities: teach, do administrative work, monitor student teachers on placement, and do research, so finding time is a challenge."

Three questions arise from the case studies:

• How can teacher educators be expected to prioritise developing their pedagogical digital competence in competition with so many other expectations?
• Is it possible to define the professional competences teacher educators need that are different from those of other educators?
• Is there now less need of an expert role and more of an experimental approach to teaching in teacher education, with and without technology?