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Digital competence of a teacher involved in the implementation of a cross-border lesson for classrooms in Brazil and Chile

Masami Isoda (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan)
Soledad Estrella (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile)
Diana Zakaryan (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile)
Yuriko Baldin (Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil)
Raimundo Olfos (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile)
Roberto Araya (Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile)

International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies

ISSN: 2046-8253

Article publication date: 2 September 2021

Issue publication date: 18 November 2021

261

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the digital competence displayed by a primary school teacher who implemented an interdisciplinary cross-border lesson that was designed with the lesson study methodology and involved two countries: Brazil and Chile.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative methodology was adopted via the case study method through which the case of a sixth-grade Chilean teacher participating in the study was documented. The data were collected through a lesson plan, a videotape of the implemented lesson and a questionnaire. A professional digital competence framework for teachers provided an analytical perspective via data analysis.

Findings

The results show that the teacher displayed digital competence in a synchronous collaborative learning environment in which she had time to reflect on the educational value of technology and appropriate teaching methods involving information and communication technologies. Certain elements of the studied case contributed to this performance, namely the cross-border context, the classroom setting and the collaborative Lesson Study methodology.

Practical implications

The lesson study methodology facilitated the teacher's performance in the “Pedagogy and didactics” digital competence by enabling her to participate in planning and implementing a lesson that allowed all those who collaborated, including teachers and researchers, to reflect on teaching in a digital learning environment.

Social implications

The cross-border context, which involved co-designing and implementing a lesson in two countries, allowed the teacher to display her “School in society” and “Ethics” competencies. This was achieved through connecting two classrooms with different languages and cultures digitally and synchronously, thereby providing students the opportunity to debate and participate in a global and local problem such as a country's responsibility for energy consumption.

Originality/value

Modern society requires the transformation of school practices, and new teaching approaches should include the provision of collaborative spaces that incorporate digital technologies. In this sense, this paper shows that cross-border lessons involving a synchronous learning environment offer a potential alternative, as digital teaching competence enables teachers to bring together different social and cultural groups virtually, thereby contributing to the reduction of social gaps and to the promotion of positive identity among less advantaged students.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the support from ANID Fondecyt 1200346; FONDEF ID20i10070; JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP19K21743, JP26245082; VRIEA 039.439/2020 and ANID/ PIA/ Basal Funds for Centers of Excellence FB0003.

Citation

Isoda, M., Estrella, S., Zakaryan, D., Baldin, Y., Olfos, R. and Araya, R. (2021), "Digital competence of a teacher involved in the implementation of a cross-border lesson for classrooms in Brazil and Chile", International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 362-377. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLLS-05-2021-0045

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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