ABSTRACT VIEW
THE DISCURSIVE MECHANISMS OF TEACHERS’ DIGITAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH
C. Matta, S. Nordmark, K. Holmberg, M. Davidsson, J. Rack, I. Masiello
Linnaeus University (SWEDEN)
This study is part of a longitudinal, interdisciplinary implementation research project exploring the impact of systematic professional development on teachers' digital education practices. As educational institutions increasingly integrate digital tools and platforms, understanding how these changes influence educators' perceptions and practices is critical.

This specific study aims to articulate the shifts in practitioners' discourses over time as they engage with the professional development initiative. Specifically, it investigates how teachers, school leaders, and digitalization system providers discuss the concept and content of digital learning materials and their implications for teaching. The study addresses the research question: What discourses about the concept and content of digital learning materials (related to teachers' teaching) emerge from the voices of the actors involved in a school digitalization project?

Data were collected through 22 semi-structured interviews with teachers, school principals, and providers of digitalization systems. These stakeholders offered diverse perspectives on integrating digital tools in education, contributing to a nuanced understanding of the interplay between professional development, technological adoption, and teaching practices. The data were analyzed using quantitative discourse analysis, and a combination of text mining, keyness analysis, sentiment analysis, and clustering algorithms. These methods allowed for the identification of patterns, thematic trends, and sentiment shifts in stakeholders' discourses

Preliminary findings reveal a notable shift in discourses over the course of the project. Initially, digitalization was often framed as a totalizing educational infrastructure—a comprehensive solution for modernizing education. However, as the project progressed, a more balanced view emerged. Teachers began discussing digital tools as instrumental resources to be integrated alongside other pedagogical materials, emphasizing the importance of a diverse and flexible approach to teaching.

This shift in discourse may reflect broader societal changes in how digitalization is perceived within education. Alternatively, it could indicate the impact of professional development on teachers' competence and confidence in using digital tools. As educators deepen their understanding of these resources, they appear to adopt more nuanced and critical perspectives, aligning digital tools with other pedagogical strategies to create cohesive learning environments.

By shedding light on these evolving discourses, this study contributes to the growing body of research on the intersection of digitalization and education, and, at the same time, articulates one of the mechanisms underlying the effects of such professional development interventions as which is at the center of our project.

Keywords: Digital literacy, discourses of digitalization, digital learning materials, text mining, quantitative discourse analysis.

Event: INTED2025
Session: ICT Skills among Teachers
Session time: Tuesday, 4th of March from 10:30 to 12:00
Session type: ORAL