부산대학교 도서관

This empirical mixed-methods research is an original work exploring Mexican primary school teachers' pedagogical adoption of technologies in close connection to contextual conditions. The study was developed and conducted in the context of the latest digital education policy in the country, which has a strong focus on learner-centred pedagogy given its roots in international standards for teaching and learning with technologies (UNESCO, 2011). Theoretically and methodologically, this research adopted a plural and pragmatic perspective that interrelatedly responded to the digital education policy concerns and the situated perspectives of practitioners. Theoretically, internationally dominant constructs of "best practice" for learner-centred pedagogy were interweaved with theories of pedagogy in context. Methodologically, the study integrated a sequential mixed-methods methodology composed of two phases. Firstly, two state-wide surveys (using items from IEA's ICILS and SITES questionnaires) were disseminated to primary school teachers (n=348) and headteachers (n=74) in Colima, Mexico. The instruments explored teachers' pedagogical practices with technologies and the contextual characteristics of the schools in which they worked. Secondly, a multiple case study collected 18 days of school observations, six days of classroom observations, eight interviews and various documents across two primary schools in Colima. This evidence provided details of the underlying processes and situated complexity of the pedagogical adoption of technologies. Findings regarding teachers' practices showed that their use of technology did not meet the expectations of the digital education policy in terms of frequency of use, kinds of technologies integrated into teaching and the development of digital skills on students. When comparing these findings with cross-national averages, Colima's teachers were found to underperform relative to these parameters. Nonetheless, qualitative evidence showed that despite not meeting policy expectations, teachers' adoption of technologies was driven substantially by learner-centred principles (i.e., Schweisfurth), providing engaging lessons that drew on students' interests and periodically opened spaces for their interventions. Findings related to the context suggested that the school infrastructural and cultural conditions profoundly influenced teachers' adoption of technologies. Concerning infrastructural conditions, survey results showed that schools had insufficient resources. When compared to cross-national data, Colima's schools were also significantly under-resourced. Regarding the school culture, evidence indicates that the school ethos was fundamental in shaping how the schools enacted the digital education policy. Schools' understanding of their purpose, the headteacher's leading role and the teachers' collaboration were crucial for the degree to which technologies were adopted for teaching. It was also found that the school's agency had not been thoroughly considered as part of the digital education policy. Similarly, tensions across design elements of the policy (such as the defined expectations and provision of resources to schools) were found to impact technology adoption for teaching negatively. By exploring this phenomenon through plural theoretical and methodological lenses that shed light on policy and practitioners' concerns, this thesis offers new perspectives to the study of technology adoption in Mexican schools and outlines initial recommendations to enhance future digital education policies and practitioners' experiences.