“Please don´t talk while I am interrupting!”Voices heard in the construction of

the ICT curriculum in Iceland

Allyson Macdonald

LearnICT project

Iceland University of Education

SERA Annual Conference, 25th-27th November 2004

The study

In all 18 schools, grades 1-10 What are the implications of using ICT for

Teachers and teaching? Learners and learning? The school as an organisation?

Survey of pupil views Survey of teachers self-evaluated skills This particular study draws on four of these

schools and a study of the development of the national curriculum.

The approach

Curriculum issues Activity theory (ICT and leadership) Analysis Conclusions

The revision of the national curriculum 1996-99

Previous curriculum 1989 Revised 1996-1999

Project manager Managament committee Subject coordinators Preparatory groups Workgroups

Two policy committees – curriculum and IT

The structure of the national curriculum 1999

Compulsory and secondary school produced at the same time

Two new subjects – IT/ICT and life-skills Compulsory schooling 1st – 10th grade

Final goals 10th grade Aims 4th, 7th and 10th grades Objectives for every grade in most subjects

Data sources

Documents – policy reports, preparatory reports, national curriculum, school curriculum

Four semi-structured interviews with policy makers, one of them an e-interview

Schools (four, urban, established) On-site interviews with principals, ICT coordinators Two focus groups of teachers with six teachers each One focus group with six students Analysis of school curriculum On-site visits (11 lessons)

Part of the larger LearnICT study – student survey, teachers’ self-evaluation of skills, observations, interviews, document analysis

The constructio

n of the ICT

curriculum

Voices of teachers – professionaland curriculum interests

Voices of policy – official initiatives and programmes

Voices of ICT – interests ofsoftware developers

Voices of pupils – out of school use of ICT

Disruptions in pedagogical spaces - 2003

Robertson et al., 2003

Force fields

Some of it relates to the competing discourses or “force fields” which operate in the context for classroom practices.

Rather our work suggests that ICT seems to rupture more fundamental arrangements and as a result changes the relationships and relations these dimensions carry.

Robertson et al. 2003

Activity theory – contradictions

Mediating tools

CONTEXT OUTCOME

Subject or actor Object or task

Rules Community Roles

Curriculum perspectives

Dominant perspective Institutionalised text Aims and objectives Learning experiences

Reconceptualist perspective Other approaches: historical, biographical,

postmodern Educational principles

Individualism or traditionalism

Voices of teachers – professionaland curriculum interests

Voices of policy – official initiatives and programmes

Voices of soft-ware developers

Voices of pupils – out of school use of ICT

Disruptions in pedagogical spaces – 2004

Robertson et al., 2003

Voices of principals?

Voices of pupils – in school use of ICT

School

Class

Observations/Interviews

Documents/Web-sites

Interviews/Observations

Schooling – view from outside

Policy-makers

ICT sector Pupils out-of-school

Key contra-dictions

Tools

Rules

Division of labour

Community

Voices

Teaching and learning

Principals Teachers Pupils in school

Key contra-dictions

Tools

Rules

Division of labour

Community

Voices

Tools - ICT tools, facilities,teaching and learning methods

SCHOOL OUTCOME?

Teacher(s) and principals ICT curriculumSkills, attitudes, experiences

Rules Community RolesCurriculum, contracts, Professional/employee, Class/subject,

Timetables Peers/experts Novice/expert

Tools - ICT tools, facilities,teaching and learning methods

CLASSROOM OUTCOME??

Teacher(s) and pupils ICT curriculum

Skills, attitudes, experiences

Rules Community RolesCurriculum, contracts, Professional/employee, Class/subject,

Timetables Peers/experts Novice/expert

Voices

Policy-makers Software Pupils

Outside schools Inside schools

Teachers Principals

Mediating tools – ICT and pupils

Out-of-school ICT activities - pupils Collaborative (e.g. games, web-sites) Communicative (e.g. MSN, blogg) Creative web-sites (e.g. programming, web-sites)

In-school use – pupils’ curriculum Microsoft software Technical, transmissive Tedious!

The curriculum as tool The pupils as a tool

Rules – school curriculum

The published curriculum The school curriculum Timetables

National standards School options Teaching contracts

Facilities Access Supervision

Division of labour – pupils, teachers, principals

Novices – experts Principal

Delegation Subject leaders

Class teacher/subject specialisation

Community – school culture

Community collaboration – pressure just-in-time vs. CPD

Commitment – to learning Computers – that work!! Vision of the principal

Managerial Supportive Authority

The principal’s voice

Leadership, management and administration New rules

New laws Technology

Roles Educational leader Manager

Community Staff Culture

The object /outcome

Policy-makers Wanted a curriculum for analytical thinking and for

promoting a way of working Wanted a cross-curriculum approach Produced a curriculum which has been interpreted

as prescriptive, with lists of things to know and do; Creativity and applied knowledge and CDT are

rarely found in school curricula or in practice Principals – want ICT for learning Teachers – not sure Pupils – capable but conservative

The object /outcome – the curriculum

Twining – Computer Practice Framework IT skills IT for learning

support extend transform

The constructed curriculum Support, extension, not oftern transformation For IT skills, not for ICT as a tool in learning Computer skills and information skills

A cacophony of voices!

Thank you!