Frameworking vocational teachers’ digital competencies: An integrative literature review and synthesis
Peer reviewed, Journal article
Published version
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https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3117110Utgivelsesdato
2023Metadata
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Originalversjon
10.7577/njcie.5322Sammendrag
Two decades of international research on the digital competencies of teachers have provided several
frameworks for empirical studies and curriculum development. However, research publications
addressing the needed digital competencies of vocational (VET) teachers are scarce. In this article, we
ask to what extent leading conceptual frameworks on digital competence are fruitful templates for
studying such competencies in the case of VET teachers’ professional development, and what could
be alternative conceptual models that fit this professional category. A synthesis is made of relevant
literature based on a theoretical platform in vocational didactics and digitalization that highlights the
diversity of international VET systems and the connectivity between work and school. We adopt an
integrative literature research approach that combines systematic procedures and supplementary
searches iteratively.
Our descriptive analysis of the literature indicated that the international research on VET teachers`
digital competencies had in general a narrow focus on technical skills with a lack of perspective on
key issues about their digital competencies such as connectivity school/work, subject-specificity, and
adaptive pedagogy. The articles tended to leave out contextual issues, for example, the changing professional work of vocational teachers and background information about the national VET
systems. However, part of the literature pointed to the need for more “grounded” research starting
from case studies and qualitative data / mixed-methods research. Our synthesis of the literature in
light of our theoretical framing identified four main topics for further research on VET teachers’
digital competencies that were incorporated in a working model or a “frameworking” that needs to
be further developed to provide a rich and validated basis for constructing professional programs.