Balancing Teacher Labor Demands: Between Critical Teacher Preparation EdTech Conversations and District Platformization Expectations

• In Event: Platformed Pedagogy: The Work of Teaching in the New Edtech Landscape

Abstract

School districts expect new teachers to hold basic knowledge and skills around edtech platforms and integration (UNESCO, 2021). However, myriad problems exist with edtech implementation, including their use for surveillance (Manolev, Sullivan & Slee, 2018; Williamson & Hogan, 2020), enforced pedagogies (cf. Ciccone, 2022; Nemorin, 2017), and requirements for teachers to participate in their evaluation, training, and integration.
The current ecosystem requires preservice teachers not only have basic edtech skills (Kereluik, Mishra, & Koehler, 2011), but also approach these tools from a critical mindset (e.g., awareness of historical [Mcllwain, 2019] and continued impacts on digital inequities [Hall et al., 2020], or racist algorithmic biases [Eubanks, 2018; Noble, 2018]). Most preservice teachers supported by the proposal authors will work in schools that serve majority Black and Latinx students, populations disproportionately harmed by edtech (Benjamin, 2019; Jones & Melo, 2020).
However, educator preparation programs (EPPs) do not always address edtech integration from a critical perspective (e.g., Marín, Carpenter, & Tur, 2021; Pangrazio & Selywn, 2018); nor do many administrator credential programs. In turn, districts may focus on hiring rapidly amidst shortages over prioritizing critical approaches (Walker, 2015).
In this complex context, we ask:
What are the expectations of partner K-12 school districts in relation to critical edtech approaches?
What edtech integration occurs in partner K-12 classrooms, and what labor is asked of teachers as a result?
How might we align approaches to edtech between EPPs and partner K-12 school districts, while being mindful of teacher labor?

Methods:
The study focuses on the EPP in a College of Education at a minority serving university in southern California that supports local partner districts, including Los Angeles Unified (the nation’s second largest district). The EPP’s focus is to prepare critical-minded educators who co-create transformative change in classrooms. Edtech skill development is not a central focus of the EPP and no edtech courses are offered. Data sources and participants are in Table 1.
Data will be thematically analyzed (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1999), focusing first on survey and interview data (Appendix A). Initial findings will inform tools built for classroom observations (year two and three). Participants expressing interest will be interviewed (Weiss, 1994).

Results:
Data collection will begin Fall 2023. From preliminary conversations preservice teachers and graduates receive foundational critical orientations towards edtech in their programs, but that knowledge does not necessarily translate to classroom demands. Teachers are required to use numerous platforms, many are intrinsic to their work, but finding time to engage from critical perspectives is difficult. We anticipate a disconnect between coursework, credential program experiences, actual classrooms, and administrator and district requirements.

Implications & Significance:
The extensive platformization of education (UNESCO, 2021) compounds demands on teachers’ time and labor (Fu, 2013; Means, 2018), further commodifies classrooms and children’s lives, may de-skill teachers, and may reduce joy and creativity. The tensions between EPP curriculum and district expectations only make teachers’ work more complex. This session will examine how best to meet these intersecting demands, with a specific eye towards not adding to overextended teacher labor demands.

Authors

• Jessica Zacher Pandya, California State University - Dominguez Hills
  Presenting Author

• Swati Mehta
  Presenting Author

• Cristina Stephany, California State University - Dominguez Hills
  Presenting Author

• Mike Karlin, California State University - Dominguez Hills
  Presenting Author