How different national strategies of implementing digital technology can affect teacher educators. A comparative study of teacher education in Norway and New Zealand

Abstract

Over ten years have passed since Norwegian educational reform implemented the use of digital tools as a required basic skill in all subjects and at all levels of Norwegian schools. However, government surveys show that there is still a significant gap between the intention of educational policies and what is actually practiced in Norwegian education. This gap has often been attributed to practitioners’ skill deficiency. This paper challenges the notion of practitioners’ skill deficiency as being the sole causal explanation for lack of progress, and attempts to explore this through a comparative study between initial teacher education in Norway and New Zealand. Our analysis has shown some significant differences between the countries, and based on our findings, this article discusses how such differences may be connected to policy development and political influence. This analysis contributes to a broader understanding of the complexity behind this gap. Understanding the bigger picture is essential for being able to work constructively towards diminishing the difference between policy intentions and practice in the future. Our findings suggest that top-down governance of the educational use of digital technology could create resistance among teacher educators. It could therefore be understood as counterproductive regarding progress. Prioritising policy goals above pedagogical goals in this field is contrary to teachers’ understanding of teacher proficiency.