Developing teachers’ digital competence: Approaches for art and design teacher educators in Uganda

Abstract

The aim of this study is to establish an in-depth understanding of how art and design teacher educators (TEs) develop digital competences in teacher training institutions in Uganda. The study utilizes perspectives from Jan van Dijk’s resources and appropriation theory as a conceptual lens to understand how art and design TEs develop digital competence for teaching in Uganda. Based on a case study design, semi-structured interviews and non-participant observations were employed to gather qualitative data from twenty-four informants who were purposively selected. The informants included ten TEs, ten teacher trainees and four administrators from two teacher training institutions in central Uganda. The findings indicate that art and design TEs develop digital competence through formal approaches, such as continuous professional development and pre-service training, and informal approaches, such as collaboration, self-teaching and repetition. The empirical findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge and provide an understanding of the development of teachers’ digital competence in Uganda.