Value Orientation and Path Selection of Teachers' Digital Literacy Cultivation: A comparative study between China and Canada

• In Event: Comparative Insights on Effective Teaching, Teacher Education, and Digital Literacy

Proposal

Enhancing teachers' digital literacy is crucial for advancing the digital transformation in education. In recent years, both China and Canada have established comprehensive standards or frameworks to elevate teachers' digital competencies, significantly influencing the value orientation and path selection of digital literacy training in these nations. In November 2022, China's Ministry of Education published the Teachers' Digital Literacy. This initiative aligns with the strategic objectives articulated during the 20th CPC National Congress to construct a digital China and to promote the digitization of education. This industry standard delineates a clear trajectory for the enhancement of digital literacy among educators in China. In 2020, Historica Canada introduced the Critical Digital Literacy Education Guide, which equips educators with tools like the Primary Source Pyramid Worksheet to help students critically assess online information in today's era of information abundance. Furthering these educational advancements, in 2022, Canada's Center for Digital and Media Literacy, Media Smarts, unveiled the Use, Understand & Engage: A Digital Media Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools. This framework integrates policy and curriculum guidelines across the provinces and territories, addressing key areas such as information evaluation, media production and distribution, and data privacy and security. It underscores “critical digital literacy” as a fundamental component of digital literacy.
From the perspective of value orientation, the cultivation of digital literacy among Chinese teachers manifests two predominant tendencies: an autonomous social orientation and a contextual practical orientation. The former is characterized by three distinct dimensions: digital willingness, digital volition, and digital social responsibility. This suggests that teachers are expected not only to proactively engage with and utilize digital technologies, and initiate digital teaching practices, but also to possess the resilience and resolve required to surmount the inherent challenges. Throughout this journey, teachers should adhere to the ethical and legal standards for the use of digital technologies, clarify digital ethics and civic literacy, and understand the influence of digital technologies on social interactions and cultural expressions. Meanwhile, the latter emphasizes the integration of digital literacy development with specific pedagogical contexts. Descriptions of nearly every tertiary dimension within this orientation incorporate key terms such as “educate”, “teach”, “learn”, and “students”. For instance, within the digital application dimension, the employment of data to enhance pedagogical practices is a core requirement, permeating all aspects of teaching design, execution, and evaluation.
Teacher digital literacy cultivation in Canada emphasizes both an egalitarian orientation that critically understands the ways in which power operates in digital spaces, and a diverse orientation that focuses on the autonomy and creative plurality of digital citizenship. On the one hand, Canada prioritizes enhancing teachers' awareness and reflective capacities regarding inequalities within digital environments. This requires educators recognize and analyze the roots of digital divides, aiming to provide students with equitable access to digital resources. On the other hand, the diverse orientations highlight the fluidity and interplay of identities, cultures and power structures. It encourages teachers to investigate their own identities and employ creative thinking, fostering an environment that values diversity. This, in turn, promotes social dialogue and the co-construction of knowledge.
From the perspective of developmental pathways, China is emphasizing three primary strategies to enhance teachers' digital literacy: reducing the digital literacy disparity between urban and rural educators, managing a variety of digital resources, and addressing the complete lifecycle of teachers' professional development. Initially, creating localized educational space. This involves enhancing the supply mechanisms of digital teaching resources led by the government, while rural schools should implement targeted digital technology promotion strategies to develop “seed teachers”. Additionally, rural educators are encouraged to take the lead, integrating digital technology with local practices and breaking down barriers. Subsequently, creating a digital teaching and learning environment. This includes boosting investments in digital infrastructure such as smart and VR classrooms, and collaboratively creating digital resource repositories—comprising video, courseware, and lesson plans—to strengthen the digitalization of teaching resources. Lastly, creating a “learning-oriented” growth ecosystem. This encompasses setting up portfolios for the continuous development of digital literacy, facilitating long-term monitoring, evaluation, and feedback. It also stresses the importance of mutual learning experiences, cross-regional exchanges, and fostering a conducive environment for digital training among teachers.
Relatively speaking, Canada is directing teachers to more consciously examine, recognize and judge the truthfulness, authority and potential bias of information by bridging the three-tiered digital divide, empowering learners, and reshaping critical pedagogy. Initially, Canada is focused on establishing a dynamic and adaptable learning framework aligned with the K-12 curriculum standards or syllabi of their respective provinces or regions. This framework aids teachers in understanding and leveraging texts that align with students’ developmental objectives for critical resource integration. Secondly, teachers are encouraged to foster a profound comprehension of knowledge through endogenous learning processes that include identifying issues, encountering differing viewpoints, engaging in open discussions, and self-validation. Lastly, the emphasis in teaching shifts from technical skills to mental skills, encompassing three core competencies: cognitive skills for the critical analysis of data, social skills for effective interaction within digital environments, and affective skills to build mental resilience and empathy.
Despite the divergent value orientation and path selection between China and Canada, the policy practices in both countries exhibit a significant alignment between these values and corresponding actions. These policy documents serve not only as manifestations of political theory but also crucially influence our understanding of knowledge and our evaluations of value. Their fundamental value orientations engage in a dialogue with Herbert Spencer's philosophy, attempting to address the pivotal question of 'what knowledge and information is truly valuable.' The purpose of a policy document extends beyond outlining political theories—it aims to provide explicit political commitments to specified actions and ensures that these commitments are transformed into tangible social initiatives.

Author

• Yijing Lv, Nanjing Normal University