The 'framing' of teachers in national ICT policies

This paper reports on how school teachers are being positioned in Australian ICT policy. Through an analysis of national policy documents beginning in the 1990's with the release of the Learning in an Online World suite of policies and statements, to the 2009 release of the Digital Education Revolution policy by the current Commonwealth Government, this paper suggests that the common representation of teachers is largely the same and continues to be inadequate. Drawing on examples from policy documents, the paper explores how teachers are usually mentioned fleetingly, are often envisioned as requiring qualities of 'dedication' and being 'up to date', yet are usually found 'wanting' or 'at fault' for their perceived slow rate of progress in the use of ICT in Australian schools. In the paper, a comparison of this representation of teachers is made in relation to ICT and to learners. In relation to ICT, the paper explores how it is often portrayed as 'driving' educational change, and how it is usually introduced against a backdrop of a vastly changing world, and global economic change. It explores how provision of ICT dominates policy. As well it explores the use of common arguments in relation to use in schools, that while having some shifts in focus and emphasis have remained largely unchanged. In relation to learners, the paper explores how learners, unlike teachers, are usually portrayed as being 'techno savvy' and ready to take on board new ICT's. The paper suggests that the representation of the teacher, as indeed representations of ICT and learners, have largely remained the same and that these representations continue to be flawed and that more productive representations that give credibility to the difficulties and complexities that teachers face when using ICT in schools are warranted.