How should digital technology influence reading pedagogy in the Year 6 primary school classroom in relation to concepts of 21st century literacy?

Abstract

The introduction of The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) (Ministry of Education, 2007) has seen a stronger emphasis on literacy for the 21st century. This context provides a unique opportunity for researchers to investigate how the stronger emphasis on the importance of technology has influenced teachers’ professional practices in the classroom. The NZC (2007) has linked technology to the “transformation of energy, information, and materials” (p. 32), furthermore it writes about e-­‐learning influencing every curriculum area and “has considerable potential to support [the] teaching approaches” (p. 36). This research study specifically examines how technology should influence reading pedagogy in the Year 6 classroom in relation to concepts of 21st century literacy. This study further investigates what teachers think about how technology should influence their reading pedagogy in the context of national policy, the school context and the research evidence. It is carried out within a New Zealand context. Semi-­‐ structured interviews were conducted within an interpretive paradigm to explore the participants’ experiences and perceptions in relation to technology integration and their reading pedagogies. Major findings from this study included that the participants do believe that technology is an important part of reading as a supporting tool in general, and they also believe in the importance of being digitally literate in a knowledge society. The school’s culture and commitment to provide resources and time for technology positively affected teacher technological practices. The findings also reveal factors that contributed to teachers wanting to integrate: benefits to their students, professional training, teachers’ personal exposure to technology, availability, and support of technology. There are also indications that show potential barriers and minor resentments towards technology integration. The participants’ believe that students find technology to have a fixed place in their everyday lives and feel comfortable and motivated by it. Finally, there is an indication that teachers lack an overview of the shift from reading to literacy to new literacy. The implications of this study are that it is important that teachers comprehend the complex nature of reading, and understand the implications of digital developments for reading pedagogy. Furthermore, it is imperative that there is recognition of the need for teacher support in the form of professional development, practical support and school culture.