The pedagogical integration of ICTs by seven South African township secondary school teachers

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND August 2015The issue of best practice in the pedagogical integration of ICTs into subject teaching has been debated internationally with the aim to offer guidance to teachers on how to effectively utilise these digital tools in the classroom. The resultant literature has reported that teachers in schools with fewer resources integrate ICTs at a lower level. South African township schools fall under this category. In an attempt to bridge this divide, these schools have received digital technologies from the government and other sponsors. In addition, teachers have been trained on ICT basic skills as preparation for use of technology in their classrooms. However, studies carried out to assess the effectiveness of these interventions have resulted in the call by the South African government for solutions that ‘work’. It is increasingly apparent that more than just digital resources are required if ICT integration is to be achieved. This study investigates selected seven South African township secondary school teachers’ practices and education policies to understand what is of pedagogical value in the use of ICTs for teaching. The findings are employed to develop an ICT teacher training framework that can help teachers in this country to maximise the utilisation of the digital technologies they have in their schools. A multi-case study is employed in which teacher interviews and lesson observations of participating teachers from a district in the Gauteng Province in South Africa are interpreted. Thereafter, a document analysis of four South African education policies is used to form a policy framework that is employed to assess teacher practice compliance to the country’s education context. This is done to customise findings to the South African education setting to facilitate the development of a relevant ICT teacher training framework. Diana Laurillard’s Conversational Framework is adopted as the theory that helps make explicit the teachers’ espoused and enacted practices. Her description of media forms is interacted with Grainne Conole and Martin Dyke’s conception of ICT affordances to help identify the pedagogical value in the teachers’ practices with ICTs. The results reveal how teacher beliefs, experience, subject needs, as well as learner needs, play a substantial role in determining the value ICTs bring to the teaching and learning experience. The significance of these characteristics demonstrates and accentuates the role of the teacher as a mediator in making ICTs of pedagogical value in the classroom. Key Words: ICT Pedagogical Integration, Conversational Framework, Media forms, ICT affordance