How different national strategies of implementing digital technology can affect teacher educators

摘要

Abstract Over ten years have passed since Norwegian educational reformimplemented the use of digital tools as a required basic skill inall subjects and at all levels of Norwegian schools. However, governmentsurveys show that there is still a significant gap between the intentionof educational policies and what is actually practiced in Norwegianeducation. 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 betweeninitial teacher education in Norway and New Zealand. Our analysishas shown some significant differences between the countries, and basedon our findings, this article discusses how such differences maybe connected to policy development and political influence. Thisanalysis contributes to a broader understanding of the complexitybehind this gap. Understanding the bigger picture is essential forbeing able to work constructively towards diminishing the differencebetween policy intentions and practice in the future. Our findingssuggest that top-down governance of the educational use of digitaltechnology could create resistance among teacher educators. It couldtherefore be understood as counterproductive regarding progress.Prioritising policy goals above pedagogical goals in this fieldis contrary to teachers’ understanding of teacher proficiency.