Beyond Cyber-Tooth Policy: Teacher Education, 'Old Times' Thinking, And Computing And Communication Technologies In Schools

Abstract

From the early days of computer use in schools, teacher education practice concerned with computing and communication technologies (CCTs) has been consistent with or supportive of policies developed for school use of CCTs. While these technologies have developed significantly since those early days, policy has altered little. The maintenance of 'old times' policies is underpinned by, among other things, a limited theorising of school change, a flawed understanding of the take up of any new technology, and institutional amnesia in relation to the reality and rhetoric associated with over twenty years of CCT use in schools. Given the prominence of CCTs in most contemporary thinking about education, any professional regeneration of teaching and learning will need to move beyond these limited and limiting accounts of schooling and CCTs. This is no simple matter given the broad and consistent reproduction of 'old times' policies and practices across systems around Australia. This paper details the flaws in current policies, maps serious problems that need to be addressed and outlines a robust approach to moving beyond the cyber-tooth policies that inform current practices in schools, and hinder any professional regeneration of teaching and learning in teacher education.