WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HERO!

Organization culture and professional self-perception as challenges for pre-primary teacher’s ICT-pedagogical

development

Pekka Mertala (Med)

Project researcher, Adjunct lecturer

University of Oulu, Faculty of Education

pekka-oskari.mertala@oulu.fi

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pekka_Mertala

https://oulu.academia.edu/PekkaMertala

Adult education and the planetary condition –The 6th Nordic Conference of Adult Education and learningTampere, Finland25–28 March 2015

NCG2010: Learning environment should support children’s development to members of contemporary information

society. Pre-primary education should give children chances to explore and practice the use of media tools.

NCG2016: ICT-skills - transversal competence area

ICT-competence is an important civic-skill that is needed in everyday practices, interaction and socialparticipation. It overlaps with multiliteracy and media and learning-skills that are essential for learning and work. Children explore different equipments, services and games in pre-primary education . ICT is used for

fostering children’s social skills, learning skills and emeregent literacy-skills. Possibilities for inquiry and production promotes children’s creative thinking and collaboration. Children are guided too use ICT in a safe

and ergonomic way.

There is no ICT in pre-primary classes

(Hujala et al. 2012)

Pre-service training is outdated or insufficent and

in-service training isn’tavailable(Karila et al. 2013)

Personnels’ have reservedattitudes and restricted

pedagogic views(Makkonen 2005; Mertala manuscript; Rouvinen 2007)

VOCATION

”the moral voice of teacher’sidentity”

(Estola, Erkkilä & Syrjälä 2003)

”The mission to teach” that risesfrom love of teaching and love of

being with children(Troman & Raggl 2008)

“to teach is a way of coming at life, of finding oneself, which is experienced as deeply spiritual and life affirming – living

a life that matters” (Bullough & Hall-Kenyon 2011)

Organizational structures etc. that don’t support teachers’ attempts to elaborate their pedagogic

practices to meet the demands of the curriculum and the needs of the children

HEROIC ACTS

THE EXISTENCE OF A HERO DEMANDS THE EXISTENCE OF THE SITUATION WHERE THE HERO IS NEEDED

Curriculum reform

”There’s something about Mary”

Generic• Female• Graduated in 1980’s• No systematic ICT-training• ”ICT is beneficial for

academic skills”

Special• The only one who asks

pedagogic questions fromand gives feedback to researcher

• Been involved in the projectthe whole timespan

• Ideas on promotingchildren’s crtitical thinkingvia ICT

A single case study is justifiable if the case is selectedpurposefully – the key is to identify the case theresearcher can learn the most from(Patton 1990, 169-172; see also Howard 2013; Orlando 2014ab)

Analysis

• Metaphor is an object or a role which represents the way one sees herself as a teacher. (Thomas & Beauchamp 2011)

• Previous studies of teacher metaphors have focused on the metaphors teachers use for describing their professional self (for example

Auranen 2004; Goldstein 2005; Mahlios, Massengill-Shaw & Barry 2010; Thomas & Beauchamp 2011)

• As Mary hasn’t called herself a hero or hasn’t analyzed her doings through the hero metaphor, this study follows a different approach as it is the researcher who is using the metaphor for representing other as teacher and describing the circumstances that produce teacher-heroes.

LUKIMAT*-training 2009

Development project

End of the development project

Subjectivetransformation Internal dragons

*LukiMat is a Finnish public web-based information service for educators, other school personnel and parents. It provides information of children’s reading and mathematical learning, and difficulties in mastering those skills. http://www.lukimat.fi/etusivu

Reseacher and colleaques asfriends and foes

”Omniscient teacher”Restricted ICT-skillsRestricted pedagogic views

Lack of resources (time)Organizational problemsExternal dragons

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Heroesjourney.svg (modified)

Transformationseen by others

From ICT-noviceto ICT-expert

From ICT-noviceto ICT-expert

Conclusion

The existence of a hero is caused by the existence of the situation where the hero is needed

• Demands of the reformed curriculum; needs of the children; involvement in development project

• Problems in organizational structures; insufficient time resources; lack of in-service training; inadequate ICT-devices

Being a hero is not a desired position• “I went to that training as a contact person but I when I left, I was a responsible person”

From a hero’s journey to fellowship• “What comes to our project, I believe that each of us can bring out the best of us and the

best of the new opportunities ICT can offer if we don’t restrict our own or other’s ideas”

Should we focus on training teams instead of individual professionals?

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