Université de Montréal Pedagogical Appropriation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by West African Educators / Appropriation pédagogique des technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) par les éducateurs ouest-africains par Kathryn Touré Département de psychopédagogie et d’andragogie, Faculté des sciences de l’éducation Thèse présentée à la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales en vue de l’obtention du grade de PhD (doctorat) en Sciences de l’éducation, option techno pédagogie août 2015 © Kathryn Touré 2015 Université de Montréal Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales Cette thèse intitulée : Pedagogical Appropriation of Information and Communication Technologies by West African Educators présentée par : Kathryn Touré a été évaluée par un jury composé des personnes suivantes : M. Michel Lepage, président-rapporteur M. Thierry Karsenti, directeur de recherche Mme Colette Gervais, co-directrice de recherche Mme Diane Biron, examinatrice externe M. Vassilis Komis, Université de Patras, Grèce M. François Bowen, représentant de la doyenne ii Abstract This research investigates how and why educators in West Africa, in Mali in particular, pedagogically appropriate information and communication technologies (ICT) and with what effects. Appropriation involves integrating newness into one’s very being and mobilizing it strategically to meet contextualized objectives, often in resistance to the status quo. It is assumed that ICT use is shaped by the values and objectives of users as well as by the local and global hierarchies of the milieus in which they are used. Qualitative research methods and interpretive approaches revealed meanings educators give to their reality and experiences. Interviews were conducted with 31 persons: 23 primary through high school teachers, six university professors, and two administrators. As educators digested ICT, it became part and parcel of their beings and everyday lives. As they adapted it to their milieus, they worked as cultural agents, mediating between ICT and society. The professors in particular expressed desires to use ICT to facilitate and enhance African participation in global debates and scholarly production and to transform how Africa and Africans are projected and perceived. Educators harnessed ICT for its transformative possibilities. The changes apparent in student- teacher relations (more interactive) and classrooms (more dialogical) suggest that ICT can be a catalyst for pedagogical change, including in document-poor contexts and ones weighed down by legacies of colonialism. Learning from the perspectives and experiences of educators pioneering the use of ICT in education in Africa can inform educational theory, practice and policy and deepen understandings of the concept of appropriation as a process of cultural change. Key words: appropriation, pedagogy, technology, ICT, culture, primary and high school education, higher education, West Africa, Mali iii Résumé Cette recherche examine comment et pourquoi les éducateurs en Afrique de l’Ouest, au Mali en particulier, s’approprient pédagogiquement les technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) et avec quels effets. L’appropriation consiste à intégrer, personnellement et dans son milieu, la nouveauté et à la mobiliser de façon stratégique pour répondre aux objectifs contextualisés, souvent en résistance au statu quo. Une méthodologie qualitative et des approches interprétatives ont permis de comprendre les significations que les éducateurs donnent à leur réalité et leurs expériences. Trente-et-une personnes ont été interviewées: 23 enseignants du primaire et du secondaire, six professeurs d’université, et deux gestionnaires. Les éducateurs ont assimilé les TIC jusqu’à ce qu’elles deviennent partie intégrante de leur être et de leur vie quotidienne. En adaptant les TIC à leur milieu, ils ont travaillé comme des agents culturels, jouant le rôle d’interface entre les TIC et la société. Les professeurs, en particulier, ont exprimé leur souhait d’utiliser les TIC pour faciliter et renforcer la participation africaine aux débats mondiaux et à la production scientifique, et pour changer la perception présente et future de l’Afrique et des Africains. Les éducateurs ont embrassé les TIC pour les possibilités de transformation qu’elles offrent. Des changements apparaissent dans les rapports entre enseignants et étudiants (plus d’interactivités), dans les salles de classes (plus d’échanges) et les contenus des cours (plus actualisés et diversifiés), suggérant que les TIC peuvent avoir un rôle de catalyseur dans l’évolution des pratiques pédagogiques, y compris dans des contextes où l’accès aux documents est difficile et où l’héritage du colonialisme se fait encore sentir. Les perspectives et les expériences des éducateurs utilisant les TIC dans l’éducation en Afrique peuvent enrichir la théorie, la pratique et la politique éducatives et permettre d’avoir une meilleure compréhension du concept d’appropriation comme processus de changement culturel. Mots clés : appropriation, pédagogie, technologies, TIC, culture, éducation, école primaire, lycée, enseignement supérieur, Afrique de l’Ouest, Mali iv Table of Contents List of Tables .................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... x Acronyms and Abbreviations .............................................................................................. xi Dedication ......................................................................................................................... xiii Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. xiv Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 1. Problem ...................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 4 1.2 What pedagogies for the times? ................................................................................ 4 1.3 Proliferation of ICT in Africa and in education in Africa ........................................... 7 1.4 Effects of ICT use in teaching and learning ............................................................. 15 1.4.1 ICT for socio-constructivist pedagogies 1.4.2 Effects of ICT on learning 1.4.3 Effects of ICT on teaching 1.4.4 Conditions for ICT use to affect teaching and learning positively 1.4.5 Regarding the studies reviewed 1.4.6 Summary of the effects of ICT use in teaching and learning 1.5 Research questions and objectives ........................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 2. Concepts ................................................................................................... 35 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 35 2.2 Socio-constructivism ............................................................................................... 35 2.3 Appropriation ......................................................................................................... 37 2.3.1 Appropriation as part of the ongoing construction of culture 2.3.2 Understandings of appropriation from communication and media studies 2.3.3 Appropriation of technology and of new teaching practices 2.3.4 Appropriation: A recapitulation 2.4 Concepts in relation to research objective ............................................................... 56 CHAPTER 3. Methodology ............................................................................................ 58 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 58 3.2 Why a qualitative research methodology? ............................................................... 58 3.2.1 Drawing on interpretive and critical epistemologies 3.2.2 A place for subjectivity in the research process v 3.3 Participants ............................................................................................................. 60 3.4 Timeline ................................................................................................................. 65 3.5 Data collection ........................................................................................................ 65 3.5.1 Pretest and validation of the semi-structured interview guide 3.5.2 Triangulation 3.6 Data analysis ........................................................................................................... 67 3.7 Deontological considerations .................................................................................. 69 3.8 Strengths and limits of the methodological approach ............................................... 71 CHAPTER 4. Introduction to the three thesis papers ................................................... 73 CHAPTER 5. First thesis paper: Blacksmiths of Internet in African Classrooms ............ 77 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 77 5.2 Context ................................................................................................................... 77 5.3 Concepts ................................................................................................................. 79 5.3.1 Appropriation 5.3.2 Social constructivism 5.4 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 82 5.4.1 Teacher selection and profile 5.4.2 Data collection 5.4.3 Data analysis 5.5 Results .................................................................................................................... 86 5.5.1 Familiarization with ICT 5.5.2 Use of ICT in relation to pedagogical goals and objectives 5.5.3 ICT-associated changes 5.6 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 93 5.6.1 Pedagogical shifts and changes in roles and relations, classrooms and schools 5.6.2 Harnessing ICT for its transformative possibilities 5.6.3 Exciting, ambiguous, and bumpy journey 5.7 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 99 CHAPTER 6. Second thesis paper: Teachers Dialoguing about ICT at the Borders of Transformative Possibilities ............................................................................................. 105 6.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 105 6.2 Concepts ............................................................................................................... 107 6.2.1 Appropriation 6.2.2 Culture and cultural renewal through appropriation 6.2.3 Conceptual summary in relation to the research objective 6.3 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 110 6.3.1 Participants 6.3.2 Data collection 6.3.3 Data analysis 6.4 Results .................................................................................................................. 113 6.4.1 Teacher conversations with other teachers vi 6.4.2 Teacher conversations with school and district directors 6.4.3 Teacher conversations with pedagogical advisors 6.4.4 Teacher conversations with parents 6.4.5 Conversations with people in the communities surrounding schools 6.5 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 118 6.5.1 Collectively exploring the potentialities of ICT in education 6.5.2 Teachers as border pedagogues and cultural workers 6.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 124 CHAPTER 7. Third thesis paper: Pourquoi les professeurs ouest-africains s’approprient- ils l’internet? .................................................................................................................... 130 7.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 130 7.2 Concepts de culture et d’appropriation des technologies ...................................... 131 7.3 Méthodologie ........................................................................................................ 133 7.4 Résultats ............................................................................................................... 134 Itinéraire TIC de Sidi Itinéraire TIC de Kadijatou Itinéraire TIC de Bakri ICT itinerary of Isadora Itinéraire TIC de Kannou ICT itinerary of Aaron 7.5 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 142 7.5.1 Attraction aux TIC et découverte de leurs possibilités pédagogiques 7.5.2 Être présent dans le monde scientifique et transformer la culture 7.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 147 CHAPTER 8. General discussion and conclusion ........................................................ 156 8.1 Synthesis of results ............................................................................................... 156 8.1.1 Synthesis of findings in relation to research objective 1 8.1.2 Synthesis of findings in relation to research objective 2 8.1.3 Synthesis of findings in relation to research objective 3 8.1.4 Additional findings related to ICT and inequalities 8.2 Discussion of results ............................................................................................. 170 8.3 Strengths and limits .............................................................................................. 176 8.3.1 Limits of the research 8.3.2 Strengths and contributions of the research 8.4 Recommendations ................................................................................................. 180 8.5 Future research ..................................................................................................... 183 References ....................................................................................................................... 185 Annex A: Statistics on primary and secondary education in Mali ...................................... xvi Annex B: Semi-structured interview guide ...................................................................... xvii vii List of Tables Tables from first four chapters Table 1. Number of Interviewees per Category ............................................................ 61 Table 2. Time Periods for Major Phases of the Research Process ................................. 65 Table 3. Assessment of Relational Criteria throughout the Research Process ............... 70 Table 4. Journals Selected for Each Thesis Paper ......................................................... 73 Tables from first paper Table 5. Grade Levels and Subjects Taught by the Teachers Interviewed .................... 84 Table 6. Examples of Learning Activities Using ICT, in Relation to Pedagogical Goals and Objectives ............................................................................................... 88 Tables from second paper Table 7. Dialogue with, or about, Other Teachers regarding ICT in Education ........... 114 Table 8. Dialogue with School and District Directors about ICT in Education ........... 115 Table 9. Dialogue with Pedagogical Advisors about ICT in Education ...................... 116 Table 10. Dialogue with Parents about ICT in Education ............................................. 117 Table 11. Dialogue with People Living in the Communities around the Schools .......... 117 Tables from third paper Tableau 12. Changements dans l’enseignement et l’apprentissage avec les TIC .............. 144 Tableau 13. Motivations des professeurs pour l’appropriation pédagogique des TIC ...... 146 viii Tables from general discussion and conclusion Table 14. Research Objectives and Findings ................................................................ 156 Table 15. Teachers Learning and Using ICT to Bring about Pedagogical Changes (summary of results in relation to objective 1) .............................................. 159 Table 16. Beyond-the-Classroom Conversations and Interactions of Teachers with Different Social Actors about ICT in Education (summary of results in relation to objective 2) .................................................................................................. 163 Table 17. Reasons Expressed by Professors for Their Pedagogical Appropriation of ICT (summary of results in relation to objective 3) .............................................. 166 ix List of Figures Figure from Chapter 1 Figure I. Bloom’s 1956 Taxonomy of learning objectives revised by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) .......................................................................................... 20 Figure from general discussion and conclusion Figure II. Changes and possibilities of change evident at multiple levels with the pedagogical appropriation of ICT ................................................................. 172 x