CHAPTER 30

DEVELOPING A QUALITY CULTURE IN INITIAL TEACHER

EDUCATION IN CHILE: CURRICULAR AND PEDAGOGICAL

ASPECTS RELATED TO ICT INTEGRATION

Mario Brun J. Enrique Hinostroza

Institute of ICT in Education, University of La Frontera

mariobrun@cidet.com.ar

enrique hinostroza@iie.cl

Abstract

Society is demanding from education systems a continuous improvement for preparing

new generations to take full advantage of new social, cultural and economic global

conditions. Considering the widely recognized impact of teachers on students’

performance, education systems worldwide are shifting their attention to their Initial

Teacher Training (ITT) and specifically to the role of ICT1 in improving educational quality,

efficiency and equity. This chapter presents the main results of the implementation in 46

Chilean ITT institutions of the international study "ICT in Initial Teacher Training"

conducted by the OECD2 in 2009.

Results show that institutional contexts are auspicious for ICT integration in ITT. However,

the level of development of formal policies on this matter is still low and a cross-curricular

integration of ICT is not being implemented so far. Although teachers tend to use ICT

resources frequently in 'traditional” activities, there is no evidence of ICT contributing to

the implementation of innovative activities. Also, results show that most of the students

aren’t being adequately taught how to use ICT in teaching. These findings might be

particularly relevant for developing conditions that promote a research-based quality

culture, in a constantly changing field as Initial Teacher Education.

Keywords

Initial Teacher Education - Quality Culture - Initial Teacher Training – ICT – Chile –

Curriculum

1 Information and Communication Technologies

2 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

Introduction

This work presents the most outstanding results of a study conducted in Chile for inquiring into the process of ICT integration in Initial Teacher Training institutions.

This research is a component of the international study “ICT in Initial Teacher Training” developed by the OECD’s Centre of Educational Research and Innovation

(CERI) for describing the scenario in several European OECD member countries and Chile, related to the preparation of future teachers to integrate ICT in their professional practices in compulsory education (primary and secondary). It aims

to analyse the collected data from a comparative perspective in order to formulate a set of recommendations on applicable policies and intervention strategies on this

field (Ananiadou & Rizza, 2010).

The Ministry of Education of Chile, through its Centre for Education and Technology (CET) decided to participate in this study in order to know more

deeply the national situation as well as to obtain relevant information for designing national policies that contribute to develop a quality culture in this

domain. Among the main research questions addressed in the study are: a) What are the national and institutional frameworks, contexts and requirements regarding the use of ICT in initial teacher training in teacher education

institutions? b) In what ways and to what extent are students being prepared to integrate technology in teaching in initial teacher training institutions?; and c)

What pedagogical practices are being performed in these institutions?

In trying to answer these questions, relevant information was obtained for describing the main dimensions underlying this education level, including

infrastructure factors, curriculum related issues, and pedagogical practices.

This chapter starts by presenting some general information about the national

background of the initial teacher training process in Chile and several topics related to quality assurance in this education level. After describing the method of the study, it presents the corresponding results, highlighting those related to the

institutional contexts, curriculum and pedagogy related aspects. Finally, it presents the main findings and their contribution to support a quality culture in

initial teacher education in Chile.

1. National background

1.1. Initial Teacher Education in Chile

The Initial Teacher Education in Chile can be only conducted by higher education institutions officially recognized by the State: Universities and, in certain cases,

Professional Institutes (National Congress of Chile, 1990). The autonomy of these institutions (both public and private) is granted by the Government through an

autonomous public entity, the Higher Education Council, allowing them to create careers and to issue nationwide official certificates and degrees (including Initial Teacher Education programs). Currently, there are about 65 initial teacher

education institutions in Chile, offering more than 700 programs. The structure of this offer is based on the corresponding education levels (preschool, primary, and

secondary teachers), under two main modalities: 1) Concurrent Training, offering simultaneously a general training in a discipline, pedagogical training and specific

preparation regarding the educational level in which future teachers will work; and 2) Consecutive Training, oriented to professionals in any discipline for obtaining a teaching degree for secondary education (this shorter programs include training in

pedagogy and specific didactics).

Developing a Quality Culture in Initial Teacher Education in Chile

1.2. Quality assurance in Initial Teacher Education

The quality of teacher education has been a matter of debate at international level for more than a decade. For example, the Bologna Declaration called in 1999 for

promoting European co-operation in quality assurance in education systems; however, regarding teacher education, the process is challenged by the diversity of the co-existing approaches (Eisenschmidt & Löfström, 2011). Although policies

on quality assurance in higher education in general (and particularly in initial teacher education) does not seem to have yet a high priority in the educational

agendas of Latin America and the Caribbean countries (Bizzozero & Hermo, 2009), Chile do consider them as an important matter in its political agenda (Hopkins,

2006; Ministry of Education, 2010). In fact, Initial Teacher Education is recognized in Chile as a level that has specific requirements of quality. For example, the accreditation is a quality certification issued by the State regarding the quality of

internal procedures (involving two scopes: institutional accreditation and career/program accreditation). This process is voluntary for higher education

institutions in general, whereas it is mandatory for Initial Teacher Education institutions (National Congress of Chile, 2006).

In this context, the nationwide INICIA program was launched in Chile in 2009 for

transforming institutions, curricula and practices in Initial Teacher Education, aiming at strengthening the professional quality of graduate teachers. This

initiative proposed a set of standards related to different skills and knowledge that every future teacher should develop during its teacher education. The program is based on three main components:

Curricular orientations and standards for teacher training programs: This component proposes a new general curriculum and a set of standards to be

implemented into the initial teacher education.

Assessment of students’ attainment: This module foresees the assessment of teacher education students, regarding the skills associated to the

following dimensions: disciplinary knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, written communication skills, and basic ICT skills in pedagogical

environments.

Initiatives for supporting the strengthening and upgrading of Teacher Education institutions.

At a national level, the results of the institutional evaluation processes are publicly disseminated every year. They may be used in different ways, not just as a

feedback for the institutions stakeholders and an input for policy-making, but also as relevant information for the academic ambit and the general public.

1.3. ICT integration in Initial Teacher Education in Chile

In addition to the aforementioned context, the integration of ICT emerges as a strong demand to education systems, which could become a significant resource

for achieving the goals posited by a globalized knowledge society. Framed on the OECD’s international study, Chilean policies are considered as belonging to two categories related to: a) Presentation of recommendations at national level but no

obligation of training; and b) Implementation of competence frameworks (Rizza, 2011). In this context, and although the first strategies implemented at the

beginning of the past decade did not include explicit references to ICT (Ministry of

Education, 2000, 2003), during the last years, the Chilean Ministry of Education has been developing and implementing new initiatives oriented to establish a set

of standards for integrating ICT in Teacher Education: the “ICT standards for the Initial Teacher Training” (Ministry of Education, 2006) and the “Functional Map of ICT skills for Teacher Education” (Ministry of Education, 2007). These strategies

aim at guiding the decision-making processes associated to the design and implementation of an efficient, effective and high quality teacher education

curriculum, for providing future teachers with those skills required to adequately perform their profession in the 21st century. These initiatives are based on a framework structured in five functional dimensions, representing the most

important aspects to be assessed: 1) pedagogical; 2) technical; 3) ethical and legal; 4) managerial; and 5) professional development. Although the

implementation of this framework is still voluntary, it has a new relevance since the accreditation process is currently compulsory for Initial Teacher Education: This aspect might contribute significantly to the impending development of a new

quality culture in this education level.

In addition, the "Inicia" program is applying a test since 2010 to assess students’

(and recent graduated) level on ICT-related pedagogical skills. Preliminary results from its application in 2011 show that 58% of the evaluated future teachers for

primary education have an “acceptable” performance level on ICT skills, whereas the remaining 42% have a level characterized as “insufficient” (Ministry of Education, 2012). Further studies, currently in progress, might shed light to the

relationship between these results (as well as those corresponding to other dimensions, such as disciplinary and pedagogical) and the students’ preparation

during its ITT.

2. Conceptual framework

The conceptual framework used in this study is based on a widely known general

model (Kozma, 2003; Law, Pelgrum & Plomp, 2008) which integrates different factors clustering them in 3 levels: macro level (factors related to the education

system: national mechanisms of institutional evaluation, formulation of standards, etc.); meso level (associated to institutional factors: infrastructure and support,

availability and access to ICT resources, curricular integration; institutional policies, among others); and micro level (aspects related to teaching and learning practices: frequency of ICT use, types of practices, teachers’ vision, etc.). These

factors are numerous (Mumtaz, 2000; Drent & Meelissen, 2008) and they are linked by dynamic interactions (ten Brummelhius, 1995; Janssen Reinen, 1996)

that shape future teachers’ skills and competencies for teaching with ICT.

This framework was modified and complemented by adding some references related to the main dimensions involved, namely: curriculum, policy,

infrastructure, teachers’ professional development, and pedagogical practices (see Figure 1). It was also added to the framework a reference to students’ outcomes,

although this study did not collect information about them: Further research for inquiring into the relationship between data from this study and the results from the INICIA test (assessing students’ ICT-related pedagogical skills) are being

developed to show a more complete picture describing the nexus between the preparation in Initial Teacher Education and future teachers’ level of ICT

knowledge and skills, to be utilized for pedagogical purposes.

Developing a Quality Culture in Initial Teacher Education in Chile

Figure 1. Conceptual framework

In consequence, results of the study will be further shown structured in two subsections: 1) Curriculum and other institutional factors (policies, infrastructure and teachers’ professional development) 2) Pedagogical practices (teaching and

learning activities).

3. Method

This study adopted a methodological strategy that combines both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. The main activities conducted were: 1) A survey applied on voluntary basis (through printed questionnaires) to the actors

from 46 teacher training institutions (almost 75% of national total), viz.: 46 deans; 495 teachers; 164 mentors; 1675 students; 233 recent graduates and 50

technical/pedagogical responsible; and 2) Case studies, carried out in five institutions (selected according to specific criteria); including individual interviews,

focus groups, classes observations and documental analysis.

Based on the international research design developed by the CERI, questions of the instruments covered different issues namely: policies, curricular integration,

ICT infrastructure and support, frequency of ICT-use, teaching and learning activities, enablers and barriers to ICT integration, among others; they aimed to

get an overview of the pedagogical use of ICT in Initial Teacher Training. In Chile, the international instruments were firstly translated into Spanish; then, adapted to the particular characteristics of the national context; and finally, complemented by

adding some additional questions considered particularly relevant for the national interests.

The performed analyses involved statistical methods, which mainly included descriptive and correlation analysis. Fieldwork was conducted in mid 2009, and it was coordinated by the Institute for ICT in Education (University of La Frontera)

as part of the Centre for Research on Educational Policy and Practice (CEPPE).

4. Results

This section presents the results of this study, structured in the aforementioned two subsections.

4.1. Curriculum and other institutional factors

4.1.1. Curricular integration of ICT

Although results show a mixed picture, ICT is mostly integrated into the curriculum just in some specific subjects rather than in a cross-curricular way (according to 83% of the consulted deans). The inclusion –or not– of ICT as a

separate subject in the Initial Teacher Education curricula, also has implications for the organizational arrangements within teacher training institutions, for

instance as regards the existence of ICT labs or separate classrooms.

In addition, 56% of the surveyed deans reported that objectives related to students’ ICT related pedagogical skills are explicitly present in less than half of

teacher education syllabi. In this sense, evidence from the case studies seems to suggest that the process of curricular integration in ITT is taken more as a

recommendation than as a compulsory requirement. Nevertheless, 63% of teachers considered as “very important” the existence of policies related to the curricular integration of ICT, as a way to foster its adoption in Initial Teacher

Education.

Finally, only 13% of the deans reported the application of standards (almost

exclusively the “ICT standards for the Initial Teacher Training”; see sub-section 1.3.) as references to frame curricular initiatives and reforms, or as part of evaluation processes (it should be noted that private institutions reported a more

frequent application of standards than the public ones). This finding shows that the use of standards is not yet a usual practice in Initial Teacher Education

institutions.

4.1.2. Policies for supporting ICT integration on pedagogical practices

The aforementioned national recommendations are adopted and/or accompanied

by local policies. In this vein, nearly 63% of the deans reported the existence of a specific institutional policy oriented to foster teaching innovations based on the

use of ICT. Moreover, almost 70% of such authorities reported the existence in their institutions of a department dedicated to support pedagogical innovations

(including those based on the use of ICT resources). However, the level of perception about the existence of these policies was significantly lower for teachers (only 49% of them reported the existence of such institutional policies;

this opens a space for reflection about the "institutional visibility” of policies related to technology-based innovations).

In addition, the overall results show that the process of ICT integration is not conceived, in general, as an organizational demand: although the majority of ITT institutions promote and/or support initiatives oriented to integrate technologies in

teaching, they are mostly formulated as recommendations instead of as a formal or compulsory requirement.

Developing a Quality Culture in Initial Teacher Education in Chile

4.1.3. ICT infrastructure and support

The main infrastructural indicators show a relatively auspicious context: the average of the students per computer ratio is 17 (students’ personal laptops are

not included in this figure; therefore, the true ratio is even lower); all the institutions have a website and provide access to the Internet (96% of them supply broadband access and 91% have a Wi-Fi network); 59% of them reported

to have a LMS/VLS system supporting about 53% of their courses; and almost 75% of teachers have their own personal computer available in their institutions.

In addition, the most available and accessible ICT resources for teaching and learning purposes are computers and projection systems (more that 80% of

teachers reported their availability, at least in some of the classrooms); conversely, the resources with the lowest availability are interactive whiteboards, video-conferencing systems, digital cameras and mobile devices.

Finally, 95% and 80% of teachers reported the existence of technical and pedagogical support, respectively. According to the different surveyed actors, the

quality of the technical support is slightly better rated than the pedagogical support; however, they were both ranked between “medium” and “good” quality.

4.1.4. Teachers' professional development on ICT

Most of the institutions provide ICT related courses for teachers as optional activities. This predominant approach leaves teachers' professional development

depending on their individual level of interest, commitment and/or responsibility. In fact, over 60% of the institutions provide optional courses for teachers in the basic and/or pedagogical use of ICT, whereas 13% of them provided mandatory

courses on the basic ICT use and barely 3% have offered opportunities to acquire skills for teaching with ICT. In addition, almost 20% of the institutions did not

provide any course or workshop for teachers’ learning about the pedagogical use of ICT resources. Paradoxically, most of the deans reported to assign high priority to teachers’ acquisition of ICT related competences in aspects such as teaching

innovation by using ICT, integration of ICT by specific actions, and identification of good pedagogical practices in ICT use.

In this context, is not unexpected that only 54% of the teachers reported the participation in a workshop or course on ICT (about its basic and/or pedagogical use) and just 27% reported having been personally engaged in a project involving

an innovative use of ICT in teaching. This is rather coincident with the results of the international study TALIS (OECD, 2009), where teachers reported to have a

strong demand for ICT teaching skills; considering the availability of training in the pedagogical use of ICT as a very important factor for ICT integration in teaching. Nevertheless, results showed that teachers assigned higher levels of importance to

the use of ICT as a management or administrative tool, over its pedagogical utilization.

4.2. Pedagogical practices

The study also inquired about teachers’ and students’ pedagogical activities and practices, both using ICT and overall (regardless the use of technological

resources), considering three groups: 1) teaching activities; 2) learning activities;

and 3) teachers’ individual activities (related to the preparation and analysis of

teachers’ work). Another particularly relevant aspect addressed by the study was the existence of specific practices aimed at teaching students how to use ICT for

teaching (i.e. its pedagogical use). The corresponding results will be shown in the following subsections.

4.2.1. Teaching activities

The most frequently performed activities, regardless the use of ICT resources, were: search for information (76% of teachers reported to promote this activities

at least once a month); development of products/reports (63%); and learning assessment (66%); whereas the least frequent were those associated to teaching practices in the lab (18%); extra-institutional activities (19%) and communication

with other experts/teachers (31%).

In general, as Figure 2 shows, the frequencies of these activities when performed

with ICT seem to follow a similar pattern. However, some of them (e.g. research projects) show smaller differences between the frequencies of implementation overall and with ICT, which reveals that they are most likely being performed with

ICT.

Figure 2. Percentages of teachers performing teaching activities, overall and with

ICT, at least once a month

4.2.2. Learning activities

Results show that the most frequently performed activities were: making presentations (75% of students reported to carry out these activities at least once a month), working as a group in class at same pace (70%) and the development

of learning materials (67%). Conversely, the least frequent were associated to communications with other actors (34%) and the contribution to the community

(36%).

A comparison between the overall frequencies of these activities and their performance with ICT (see Figure 3) reveals some particular differences that

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100% Search of information

Development of products (e.g. reports)

Learning assessment

Research projects

Data processing and analysis

Activities with autonomous access

Exercises for practicing skills

Communications with other experts/teachers

Lab activities

Extra-institutional activities

Overall activities Activities with ICT

Developing a Quality Culture in Initial Teacher Education in Chile

suggest a relatively more frequent use of ICT resources in certain activities,

namely: communication with external actors, contribution to the community through learning activities and making of presentations. Conversely, ICT is

relatively less frequently used in activities such as the participation in collaborative projects, working individually in class at own pace, and self or co-evaluation. These findings open a space for discussion about the role of ICT use in some

specific learning activities.

Figure 3. Percentages of students performing learning activities, overall and with

ICT, at least once a month

4.2.3. Teachers’ individual activities

The most frequently performed activities regardless the use of ICT are: preparation of general classes (92% of teachers reported to perform this activity

at least once a month); searching of useful learning resources (87%); communication with students (87%) and colleagues (86%); organization of

teachers’ work (85%) and design of own learning resources (83%). On the other hand, the least frequently carried out were: participation in courses or workshops (24%) and in collaborative projects (37%); as well as the identification of

adequate pedagogical situations for using ICT (51%).

Comparing these frequencies with those performed by using ICT, they follow a

similar pattern (Figure 4). This result is noteworthy since it indicates that ICT is not being used more frequently in any particular activity more than in others.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100% Make presentations

Work as a group in class at same pace

Develop learning material

Determine own content goals for

learning

Explain and analyze own ideas

Complete worksheets/exercises

Work individually in class at own pace

Participate in collaborative

projects/activities

Self-evaluate and co-evaluate with peers

Answer tests/respond to evaluations

Contribute to community through learning activities

Communicate with external actors

Overall activities Activities with ICT

Figure 4. Percentages of teachers performing individual activities related to their

teaching work, overall and with ICT, at least once a month

Summarizing, results show that teachers tend to use ICT in a consistent way

across their individual activities and in most of their teaching practices, without significant evidence of ICT contributing more to the implementation of some specific activities compared to others. Nevertheless, ICT use in learning activities

has shown some evidence of differentiated roles regarding certain specific activities.

4.2.4. Use of ICT in teaching vs. teaching the use of ICT

The study also asked teachers about their pedagogical practices, for knowing to what extent they use ICT in teaching and they teach students how to use ICT

resources for teaching. The use of different ICT resources in the classrooms in Initial Teacher Education is considered as a key contribution to students' learning

about its subsequent pedagogical use, under the assumption that they will learn how to teach with technologies on the basis of two different processes: through modeling (while watching how their teachers use ICT), and through direct

teaching (while they are being explicitly taught how to implement ICT supported didactic strategies).

Figure 5 show the comparison between the percentages of teachers reporting to perform practices (with a frequency of half of classes or more) involving, on one hand, the use of ICT resources in teaching and on the other hand, the

implementation of practices aimed to teach students how to use ICT resources in teaching (such percentages were calculated over the total amount of teachers

declaring that each ICT resource is available “in at least one classroom”). As it can be seen, the resources most frequently used and taught in class by teachers are computers and projection systems; nevertheless, the percentages corresponding

to their use in teaching (modeling) duplicate those related to the direct teaching about how to use them to teach. In relation to other resources (such as

educational software and digital cameras) both frequencies are similar (and

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100% Prepare general classes

Search useful learning resources

Communicate with students

Communicate with colleagues

Organize/manage my work

Design own learning resources

Communicate with managers

Analyze assessment data

Assess students' learning

Prepare classes for students' ICT-use

Identify situations for ICT-use

Participate in collaborative projects

Participate in courses or workshops

Overall activities Activities with ICT

Developing a Quality Culture in Initial Teacher Education in Chile

significantly lower). Moreover, whereas about one third of teachers reported to

teach their students how to use computers and projection systems in teaching in half or more of their classes, less than 10% of them reported to teach their

students the pedagogical use of other ICT resources: This would be insufficient to fully provide students the adequate environment for acquiring the levels of knowledge and skills required to teach with ICT in their future classes.

Figure 5. Percentages of teachers performing practices oriented to teach students the pedagogical use of ICT, half of the classes or more

In summary, results show that teachers tend to use quite frequently computers,

projection systems and, to a lesser extent, e-learning systems (LMS/VLS); nevertheless, they do not teach their students habitually how to use these –or other– ICT resources in teaching. Consequently, ITT institutions wouldn’t seem to

be taking advantage of their ICT infrastructure: This could explain, to some extent, the lack of confidence revealed by many students regarding the use of

technologies in their future teaching activities, since they reported to feel unprepared to use some ICT resources (e.g. digital whiteboards).

5. Conclusions

The most significant findings emerging from this study are summarized as follows.

5.1 Curriculum and other institutional factors

Regarding the curricula in Initial Teacher Education, the majority of the institutions include ICT as specific contents in certain courses rather than doing

transversally in different subjects; so far, this approach has not been enough to

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Using in teaching

Teaching how to use

promote the effective integration of technologies in ITT (BECTA, 2006; Sardone &

Devlin-Scherer, 2008).

In relation to institutional policies, although many ITT institutions have reported

about their commitment for the integration ICT in their classes, just a few of them have formally transformed these intentions into practice; this shows that this issue is not among their highest priorities (this is consistent with the results from the

policy review developed by Enochsson & Rizza, 2009).

About infrastructure and support, results show that institutions are generally well-

resourced, presenting adequate levels of access and availability to ICT resources (mainly computers and projection systems), as well as technical and pedagogical support.

With regard to teachers' professional development, it was noted the importance of the provision of teacher training courses, since many ITT teachers do not seem to

be able yet to integrate technology resources in their classes: This finding is concordant with the results from other studies (Jimoyiannis & Komis, 2007; OECD, 2009). In most of the institutions, training opportunities related to ICT are offered

to teachers as optional activities. Results suggest that this would be associated to the relatively low level of teachers’ participation in these courses and their even

lower level of personal engagement in innovative projects related to the use of ICT in teaching.

Broadly speaking, institutional contexts can be characterized as rather auspicious for the integration of technologies in ITT. The overall ICT infrastructure, the level of availability and access to different digital resources, and the availability and

quality of technical and pedagogical support, have reached in many cases quite adequate levels, showing that these factors should not be cause of particular

concern in this education sub-system. However, the level of development of formal policies on this matter is still low in the teacher training institutions and the process oriented to fully integrate ICT related contents in a cross-curricular way, is

still an unaddressed issue in the ITT curricula.

5.2 Pedagogical practices

Regarding pedagogical practices, results reveal that teachers tend to use ICT resources habitually in their individual activities and in most of their teaching activities, without showing evidence of technologies contributing to the

implementation of some activities more than others. Nevertheless, the use of ICT in learning activities do shows some hints about differentiated roles in some

specific activities (such as “communicate with external actors”, “develop learning materials”, “contribute to community through learning activities” and “make presentations”). Most of these latter practices are clearly associated to a student-

centered pedagogy, coinciding with the findings reported by Inan et al (2010), who sustain that the use of ICT resources helps to promote this pedagogical

approach.

Nevertheless, the highest frequencies associated to the pedagogical use of ICT by teachers and students correspond to the most common and conventional

activities, usually characterized as “traditional”, such as “prepare general classes” and “organize teachers’ work” (teachers’ individual activities); “search

information” and “develop products” (teaching activities); “make presentations” and “work as a group at the same pace” (learning activities). This finding is also consistent with previous studies (Trucano, 2005; Law et al., 2008) and particularly

Developing a Quality Culture in Initial Teacher Education in Chile

with those who posit that ICT should be considered as a pedagogical resource to

support preexistent teaching activities (Ottesen, 2006) rather than to revolutionize teaching practices (Karasavvidis, 2009).

With respect to the use of ICT resources in teaching, although teachers seem to use them on regular basis, the practices associated to teach their students how to use these resources with pedagogical purposes are far less frequent (despite its

fundamental role for teachers’ training). This study found that ICT use would be rather scarce when compared to their availability (finding consistent with the

review of Enochsson & Rizza, 2009); revealing a sort of underuse of these resources. Moreover, many of them (such as video-conferencing systems and

mobile devices) are practically unused, whereas the use of computers and projectors is relatively too frequent (and almost exclusive). In consequence, teachers perform teaching practices in somewhat basic and undiversified ways,

involving a relatively limited set of digital resources applied to the implementation of traditional teaching activities, while the more advanced and complex

pedagogical practices are significantly less frequent. This would suggest that teachers are not taking advantage of the potential of ICT. Thus, although availability and access to ICT resources appear as necessary conditions, they

would not be enough to promote an effective integration of ICT in teaching.

Generally speaking, it could be said that the foundations for a widespread

integration of ICT in the ITT seem to be present, but they are not enough yet to fully harness the potential of ICT to support teaching and learning activities; this would be consistent with the preliminary outcomes of the Inicia test on ICT skills

(Ministry of Education, 2012). Although “pre-service teachers are expected to graduate (…) with the same competencies that working teachers have gained”

(Fluck, 2002, quoted by Pearson, 2011), results show that expectations about the pedagogical integration of ICT in Chilean institutions of ITT are not been fulfilled yet, since most of the students aren’t being taught how to use ICT in teaching,

and they aren’t experiencing situations in which digital technologies are used as innovative pedagogical tools for acquiring the specific knowledge involved in

teaching as well as the full comprehension of its impact on learning processes.

The presented work aims to open a space for reflection and debate about the way in which the Initial Teacher Education is responding to the demands of today’s

society, from a more complex and integral vision of ICT adoption, for preparing teachers with higher levels of professional competence, and enhancing the quality

of ITT institutions. The results of this study might be particularly relevant for contributing to the development of the conditions that promote a research-based quality culture, in a constantly changing field as Initial Teacher Education. Given

the strategic role assigned by the Chilean State to ITT as a key component of its education system, specific policies are required for establishing processes oriented

to ensure the quality of the training and the professional development of future teachers. In this context, this work might provide relevant information for supporting the design and implementation of such policies (at a national and/or

institutional level) as well as intervention strategies; contributing at the same time to shed light on several issues that could foster a more complete, updated,

innovative and high quality Initial Teacher Education in Chile.

6. Acknowledgments

Our thanks to the Ministry of Education of Chile, through its Center for Education and Technology (CET); and to the Centre for Research on Educational Policy and

Practice (Grant CIE01-CONICYT), for supporting this research.

References

Ananiadou, K. & Rizza, C. (2010). ICT in Initial Teacher Training: First findings and conclusions of an OECD Study. Proceedings of EDULEARN10 Conference.

5th-7th July 2010, Barcelona, Spain.

Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2007). How the world's best-performing school systems come out on top. McKinsey & Company.

BECTA (2006). The Becta Review 2006: Evidence on the progress of ICT in education. Coventry, UK: Becta.

Bizzozero, L. & Hermo, J. (2009). La globalización de la educación superior y sus implicancias en las negociaciones de comercio internacional [Globalization of Higher Education and its implications for international trade

negotiations]. Retrieved on April 29, 2012 from http://www.unne.edu.ar/institucional/documentos/formacion_funcionarios/

Bizzozero-Hermo.pdf

Brun, M. (2011). Las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones en la formación inicial docente de América Latina [Information and

Communication Technologies in Initial Teacher Education in Latin America]. Paper 172, Social Policies Series. Economic Commission for Latin America

and the Caribbean (ECLAC), United Nations: Santiago de Chile.

Drent, M. & Meelissen, M. (2008). Which factors obstruct or stimulate teacher educators to use ICT innovatively? Computers & Education (51), 187-199.

Eisenschmidt , E. & Löfström , E. (2011). Developing Quality Cultures in Teacher education : Expanding Horizons in Relation to Quality Assurance. Tallinn:

Tallinn University.

Enochsson, A.B. & Rizza, C. (2009). ICT in Initial Teacher Training: Research Review. EDU Working Paper No. 38. Paris: OECD.

Hinostroza, J. E., Hepp, P., & Cox, C. (2009). National policies and practices on ICT in education: Chile (Enlaces). In T. Plomp, R. E. Anderson, N. Law & A.

Quale (Eds.), Cross-National Information and Communication Technology: Policies and Practices in Education (Revised Second Edition ed., pp. 153-170). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing.

Hopkins, D. (2006). Quality Assurance and Large Scale Reform: Lessons for Chile. Santiago.

Inan, F. A., Lowther, D. L., Ross, S. M. & Strahl, D. (2010). Pattern of classroom activities during students’ use of computers: Relations between instructional strategies and computer applications. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26,

540-546.

Janssen Reinen, I. A. M. (1996). Teachers and computer use: The process of

integration IT in the curriculum. Enschede: University of Twente.

Developing a Quality Culture in Initial Teacher Education in Chile

Jimoyiannis, A. & Komis, V. (2007). Examining teachers' beliefs about ICT in

education: Implications of a teacher preparation programme. Teacher Development, 11(2), 149-173.

Karasavvidis, I. (2009). Activity theory as a conceptual framework for understanding teacher approaches to information and communication technologies. Computers & Education, 53, 436–444.

Kozma, R. (Ed.). (2003). Technology, innovation and educational change. A global perspective. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

Law, N., Pelgrum, W. & Plomp, T. (2008). Pedagogy and ICT use in schools around the world. Findings from the IEA SITES 2006 study. Hong Kong: Springer -

CERC (University of Hong Kong).

Ministry of Education (2000). Estándares de Desempeño para la Formación Inicial de Docentes. [Teaching standards for Initial Teacher Training] Santiago:

Enlaces

Ministry of Education (2003). Marco para la Buena Enseñanza [Framework for

Quality Teaching]. CPEIP - Centro de Perfeccionamiento, Experimentación e Investigaciones Pedagógicas. Ministry of Education of Chile. Santiago: C&C Impresores.

Ministry of Education (2006). Estándares en Tecnologías de la Información y de las Comunicaciones en la Formación Inicial Docente [ICT standards for the

Initial Teacher Training]. Santiago: CET

Ministry of Education (2007). Mapa Funcional de Competencias en Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación para la formación y la profesión docente

[Functional Map of ICT skills for Teacher Education]. Santiago: CET

Ministry of Education (2010). Descripción general del programa ‘Inicia’ [General

description of the ‘Inicia’ program]. Retrieved on September 5, 2011 from http://www.programainicia.cl/ed02_historia.html

Ministry of Education (2012). Resultados de la Evaluación INICIA 2011 [National

results of the INICIA test]. Retrieved on May 7, 2012 from http://www.educarchile.cl/UserFiles/P0001/File/CR_Articulos/RESULTADOS

%20INICIA%202011.pdf

Mumtaz, S. (2000). Factors affecting teachers’ use of information and communications technology: a review of the literature. Journal of

Information Technology for Teacher Education, 9 (3), 319–341.

National Congress of Chile (1990). Ley N° 18962 - Ley Orgánica Constitucional de

Enseñanza [Law 18,962 - Constitutional Comprehensive Teaching Act]. Santiago.

National Congress of Chile (2006). Ley N° 20129 - Sistema Nacional de

Aseguramiento de la Calidad de la Educación Superior [Law N° 20,129 - National System of Higher Education Quality Assurance]. Santiago.

OECD-Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2009a). Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environments. First Results from TALIS. París: OECD.

Ottesen, E. (2006). Learning to teach with technology: Authoring practised

identities. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 15(3), 275–290.

Pearson, J. (2003). Information and Communications Technologies and Teacher

Education in Australia. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 12(1), 39–58.

Pedró, F. (2009a). Reframing the policy expectations about Technology in Education. Paris: CERI/OECD

Rizza, C. (2011). ICT and Initial Teacher Education: National Policies. EDU Working Paper No. 61. Paris: OECD.

Sardone, N., & Devlin-Scherer, R. (2008). Teacher candidates’ views of a multi-user virtual environment. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 17(1), 41–51.

ten Brummelhius, A. (1995). Models of Educational Change: the introduction of computers in Dutch Secondary Education. Enschede: University of Twente.

Trucano, M. (2005). Knowledge maps: ICTs in education. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.