Browsing by Person "Coker, Helen"

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Mediating the flow of professional capital: The potential of technology for rural teachers professional learning in Scotland
(SPERA, 2019-11-30) Coker, Helen
Professional learning opportunities for teachers working in rural settings can be restricted by the time, distance and cost involved in accessing face-to-face events. The expansion of internet connectivity to rural areas provides new ways for rural teachers to engage with professional learning. This study explored the experiences of rural teachers in the north and west of Scotland at a time when internet connectivity was being expanded in rural settings. Analysis focused on the mediating role of technology in relation to its capacity to enable or restrict the flow of capital. The findings highlight the potential of technology for professional learning in rural areas. The gains are exponential compared to their urban counterparts as technology can enable access to the professional community, previously constrained by geography. The gains are not automatic though. While technology can enable the flow of capital in rural areas, it also mediates it. Understanding the mediating role of technology and the experiences of rural teachers when engaging with it, are important considerations for both future research and those working to deliver or provide professional learning opportunities for teachers in rural schools.
The National Framework for Digital Literacies in Initial Teacher Education
(2020) Robertson, Derek; Atkinson, Tracey; Bradfield, Kylie; Coker, Helen; Donaldson, Peter; Easton, Eric; Mulligan, Aloyise; Munro, Judith; Oates, Catriona; Quigley, Claire; Robertson, Judy
Initial Teacher Education (ITE) institutes across Scotland play a central and formative role in the early career development of prospective teachers. It is in Initial Teacher Education where student teachers begin to “form habits of the mind, habits of the heart, and habits of the hand” (Shulman 2005, p. 59). This formative experience requires that the initial teacher education experience be one that is informed and influenced by integral partnerships between ITE providers, Scottish Government, the General Teaching Council of Scotland, local authorities and schools across the country. To this end, the National Framework for Digital Literacies in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) aims to detail how staff and students in ITE can support the Scottish Government’s aims and aspirations to: 1. Develop the necessary skills, behaviours and dispositions of prospective teachers to become effective practitioners with digital tools and spaces; 2. Address the digital literacies expectations of the Standards for Provisional Registration as maintained by the GTCS; 3. Ensure that digital literacies are embedded in the foundation skillsets of early career teachers as they begin teaching. Digital literacies and the digital tools and spaces that are available have become increasingly relevant to teaching and teacher education in contemporary times. The past two decades have seen the rise of digital tools and spaces to the extent that their ubiquitous presence permeates so much of modern life both within and outside of school. In education we have seen the advent of multimedia authoring (e.g. digital movie making, web design, and animation), web 2.0, cloud computing, shared document authoring, virtual and augmented reality, coding and social media tools being used in our schools. However, there is a commonly held assertion that “despite the pervasive nature of digital technology, its benefits are not always fully felt within our education establishments.” (Scottish Government, 2016, p.3). The Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE), along with the support of Scottish Government, set up a working group with representatives from all the providers involved with ITE to develop ‘The National Framework for Digital Literacies in Initial Teacher Education’. Although it was very likely that there may have been different, yet wholly valid, versions of the ITE digital experience across the institutions, an agreed Framework could offer a consistent perspective and sharper focus in addressing “expectations that ITE providers instil the benefits of using digital technology to enhance learning and teaching in their students, in line with GTCS Standards for Registration” (Scottish Government, 2016, p.4). This will eventually lead to better learning outcomes for ITE students and the pupils they will teach during their probationary year and beyond, when they will then engage with the other Professional Standards related to their stage of professional development. The National Framework for Digital Literacies in ITE is designed to meet the Scottish Government’s vision of a relevant, ambitious and forward-looking framing of digital learning across ITE programmes (Scottish Government, 2016). It also seeks to acknowledge and actively promote the critical exploration of research informed pedagogy, the promise of the transformational effect of digital learning and how the everyday use of commercial and freely available digital products can implicitly impact on understanding and practice. It also aims to play its part in establishing the professional expectation of engagement with career-long professional learning in the digital learning and teaching domain for Scottish teachers.
Why does digital learning matter? Digital competencies, social justice, and critical pedagogy in initial teacher education
(2020-05-30) Coker, Helen
Digital tools and spaces are becoming prevalent in schools across the world requiring the development of digital skillsets for student-teachers. Digital technology, in enabling education to extend beyond the space and time boundaries of the conventional classroom (Seifert et. al., 2015), brings the digital landscape into the classroom and firmly into the frame of reference for those preparing student-teachers to enter the profession. For Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes which foreground social justice, the digital (i.e., technology which is linked to the internet) goes far beyond a skillset or a discrete subject. Engaging with digital learning encompasses the 21st century context - both local and global - in which student - teachers and their future pupils are situated. Developing a critical pedagogic approach involves understanding the context in which one lives and enabling learners to challenge or change it (Freire, 1996). For those working in ITE a postdigital lens provides a means to understand the context in which they are situated. Critical pedagogy enables student - teachers to understand that context, and challenge the inequities which persist, preparing them not simply to navigate the digital landscape, but to engage with it critically. Reflecting on student - teacher learning this article explores the digital dimension, highlighting the importance of digital learning when engaging with critical pedagogy and social justice in ITE.