Digital Competence of Secondary School Science and Mathematics Teachers: Case Studies in Italy and Pakistan

Technology is at the core of the transformation of knowledge dissemination and its acquisition in recent years. As a driving force in this process, technological advancements have changed the mode of teaching and learning, from basic infrastructure to the way we think and accomplish tasks within the classroom. The digital competence of teachers has been recognised as a core skill, and its promotion has been reported in policy documents, frameworks, and reports across the EU and international arenas. The present study deployed TPACK and the DigCompEdu framework to address discipline-specific technological integration and the specific competences required for this process, respectively. Using these two theoretical and operational standpoints, the study has conceptualised a Digital Competence framework for science and mathematics teachers, having generic digital competence and professional digital competence as key dimensions. With the case study as an umbrella methodological arrangement, the research employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design to measure the level of digital competence in relation to demographic variables, its development through effective professional development, and its operationalisation in Pakistan and Italy. A survey instrument based on the framework mentioned above has been developed, validated, translated and used for data collection in two contexts. In the first phase, a total of 460 valid responses from Pakistan and 165 from Italy have been received, facilitating the analysis of the data. The mixed results across both contexts have revealed that in the Pakistani context, female teachers exhibit a higher level of competence compared to their male counterparts, while in Italy, male scores were higher for a specific dimension only. Age was also a strong predictor of digital competence; an older group of teachers consistently reported a lower level of competence. In Pakistan, teachers with higher qualifications have demonstrated a higher level of competence, whereas in Italy, a higher level of formal education has not been found to be significant. The teaching qualification has also not been significantly associated with the level of digital competence in both cases. The definition of effective professional development was articulated in terms of structure and process elements. In both cases, the current level of digital competence and process elements remain strong predictors of improvement in competence. In the qualitative part of the research study, five in-person interviews were conducted in each context, with a considerable amount of time spent in schools to observe the performativity and operationalisation of digital competence. The findings from this phase addressed the existing and emerging themes associated with the performativity of digital competence in the classroom. Existing practice-centric dimensions such as personal orientation, the practice itself, contextual factors, and emerging factors such as the first and second level divide and pedagogical performativity have been found to be associated in Pakistan, while in Italy, a lack of shared pedagogical vision and the domestication of technology in teachers' centred tasks have been identified. Time constraints and the pressure to complete the course content remained a common factor in both contexts.