Doctoral Dissertation
Technology Professional Development for Teacher Educators in Malawi(Summary)
FOSTER GONDWE

Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation
Hiroshima University

September 2021

The use of instructional technology 1 in Malawi is behind expectations partly because
teachers and student teachers have often reported to be underprepared. Although teacher
educators are critical to the preparation of teachers and student teachers for the use of
instructional technology, available research consistently shows that lack of training is one of
the major factors that hinder teacher educators’ use of instructional technology in the country.
However, little is known about the nature of technology trainings that teacher educators
undertake. This study explored technology professional development for teacher educators
in Malawi to generate insights into ways of building their technology competencies. The
study questions were:

How do teacher educators conceptualize instructional technology, and why do they
conceptualize it the way they do?

How, what, and why do teacher educators learn about instructional technology?

How do teacher educators apply their learning from technology professional
development they undertake?

Study participants included 31 student teachers and 17 teacher educators from three different
public teacher education institutions, and 2 staff members of a Non-Governmental
Organization (NGO) implementing a digital educational technology programme. The NGOstaff (called education specialists) train primary school teachers (in schools) and teacher
trainers (in teacher training colleges) in the use of digital educational technology. The NGO
case served as a snapshot to explore technology professional development for non-traditional
teacher educators, referring to those that are rarely identified as teacher educators in research

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There is no universally agreed definition of instructional technology. However, two perspectives are noted in
the literature: 1) instructional technology as media, which refers to developing, selecting, or using instructional
materials such as television, motion pictures, audio-tapes and discs, textbooks, black boards, and so on, and (2)“as a process by means of which we apply the research findings of behavioral sciences to the problems ofinstruction” (Engler, 1970, p. 379). In this study, the second definition is adopted, paraphrased as the systematicprocess to solve instructional problems. This definition is preferred because it is broad enough to include theunderstanding of instructional technology as media. In the dissertation, instructional technology is also usedinterchangeably with technology.

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or policy. The NGO has also helped to draw lessons that might be useful for teacher
educators’ technology professional development in public teacher education institutions.
The data collection methods were semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Data
analysis combined deductive and inductive approaches, using the individual perspective ofteacher educators’ professional development at work (Ping et al., 2018) as the analyticalframework. The process involved transcription of recorded interviews, data reduction,categorising data, and interpretation through theoretical reading.
The findings indicate that:
Teacher educators held a ‘spectrum’ of definitions of instructional technology, fromusing technology for improving teaching and learning to the use of specifictechnologies such as computers (see also Chitiyo, 2010). However, the digital media
view of instructional technology was the most prominent. This conceptualization canbe attributed to their prior training, content of technology professional development
they undertake, experience in teaching instructional technology, and the organization
structures that facilitate instructional technology at their institutions.

Teacher educators undertake a mix of formal (such as workshops and upgradingprogrammes) and informal (such as getting input from colleagues and engaging inacademic activities) technology professional development activities as a personal
ambition and to respond to changes in teacher education curriculum. The activities
focused on technology competencies that seem not unique for teacher educators: forexample, being models of using technology for their student teachers, or preparing
student teachers how they could enhance technology competencies of their future
students (see also, Uerz et al., 2018). Student teachers’ perspectives helped tounderstand how teacher educators were acting as models of using technology.

Teacher educators confirmed their application of learning through student teachers’performance. However, they reported challenges such as large classes, lack of interest
from colleagues, and lack of technology resources as obstacles to apply their learning.

2Mentoring and community of practice are some of the lessons learnt from the NGOcase. Additionally, education specialists were expected to have attributes ofinstructional technologists: for example, applying knowledge of theories of learning
to the use of technology in teaching and learning. In this way, the NGO case offers
insights for designing job profiles of technology teacher educators of instructional
technology in public teacher education institutions.

The findings suggest that the aim of the study has been addressed, which was to improve ourunderstanding of technology professional development for teacher educators in Malawi. Thefindings support the thesis that, while teacher educators showed interest in improving theirtechnology competencies by undertaking a mix of professional learning activities, it seems
their technology professional development content was not unique to the profession ofteacher educators. This was further compounded by challenges they faced as they attempted
to apply what they learnt from their technology professional development activities. Since
the findings point towards individual motivation, needs and obstacles concerning technology
professional development, the study is insightful for identifying effective technology
professional development activities for teacher educators in Malawi. However, since findingsof qualitative research cannot be generalized to larger populations, and that this study wasexploratory in nature, the major significance of the study lies in its potential to raise newresearch questions. Accordingly, the following are some of the areas recommended forfurther research. First, although the study revealed the use of community of practice andmentoring as some lessons from the NGO case, it is not clear how the activities work (or failto work), and how teacher educators benefit from them. Second, conducting research or using
research findings is one of the effective professional development activities for teachereducators. In this study, while some teacher educators reported to conduct research, it isunclear how they consider research as their professional development activity. Therefore,
further research can focus on how teacher educators pursue research as a technology
professional development activity.

This study contributes to theory by illustrating technology professional development for nontraditional teacher educators, which is valuable knowledge as teacher education around theworld continues to be offered beyond the confines of universities and colleges of education.
Although the findings may not be transferrable to all non-traditional teacher educators, the3snapshot can stimulate further discussions on technology professional development for nontraditional teacher educators. The study also included student teachers’ perspectives as basis
for understanding teacher educators’ technology professional development, a topic that isunderexplored in the literature.

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