The Impact of Professional Learning and Development on Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs and Implementation of the Hangarau Matihiko and Digital Technologies Curricula

Abstract

To prepare young people for the impending workforce and societal changes caused by advancements in technology, many countries have begun introducing digital technology learning areas into their curricula where students are given opportunities to learn about technology. The New Zealand National Curriculum was updated in 2017 with the inclusion of the Hangarau Matihiko technological area in Te Marautanga o Aotearoa (the Indigenous Māori-medium curriculum) and the Digital Technologies technological area to the New Zealand Curriculum (English-medium curriculum). This need to prepare students to learn about new technologies and ways of working is well known, yet globally, implementation of Digital Technologies curricula has been slow and there are limited studies into the support teachers need to implement these new curricula. The aim of this research project was to gather empirical evidence about the impact training has on teachers’ experiences with these new curricula to inform decision-making and increase implementation. This study examined how three different models of digital technologies professional learning and development influenced 48 New Zealand primary and intermediate school teachers’ efficacy beliefs and implementation with reference to both the Hangarau Matihiko and Digital Technologies curricula. Efficacy beliefs were chosen as a study variable due to the ability to categorise these into value-beliefs (the importance a teacher places on DT), self-efficacy beliefs (a teachers belief in their own DT capabilities) and teacher-efficacy beliefs (teachers beliefs in their capacity to teach DT). The mixed methods investigation compared data from a survey at three points in time (pre-, post- and 6 months-post- completing the training) and involved descriptive and statistical analysis of the quantitative dataset and thematic analysis of the qualitative dataset prior to triangulation. Statistically significant interactions between time (pre- and 6 months post-training) and confidence, implementation and efficacy beliefs were found, yet no statistical significance was found between the three different training models. A range of connections between implementation and each of the efficacy beliefs were discovered highlighting the multifaced impact of training on teachers’ implementation. The research found teachers required additional support both in adopting relevant pedagogies and in planning to implement these curricula. School environments were shown to influence efficacy beliefs, and lack of time both in terms of non-contact time and time in the classroom was found to be a pressing concern for participants. Using the contributions of the study as evidence, the research closes with a discussion of further areas of research needed as well as the support needed to raise teachers' implementation of these important curricula.