Educator discourses on ICT in education: A critical analysis

Abstract

This paper presents a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Primary School Educators’ dialogue on the use of ICT in an under-resourced schooling context. Educators play a pivotal role in the education system. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) interventions in schools will be effective only if educators are willing and able to appropriate the intervention to their existent needs, and derive real benefits. One of the barriers to the meaningful integration of ICTs in education in developing countries is the lack of alignment between what funders and project implementers intended (on the one hand) and the social meanings educators assign to the technology (on the other). The aim of this study was to understand the discourses around education and technology, as articulated by educators in under-resourced contexts in SouthAfrica. Data for the study was collected through in-depth interviews with educators from underresourced schools in Cape Town, in the Western Cape in South Africa. The results show that educators appreciate the value of ICT in education and are willing to adopt it. However, at the same time, they feel they lack capacity and support to achieve that goal effectively. The study also shows that global discourses on ICT may deny educators in disadvantaged communities the power to voice the challenges they face when integrating ICTs in their teaching processes.