Exploring and reflecting on the influences that shape teacher professional digital competence frameworks

The importance of Digital Competence in teacher education has increased in recent years resulting in a range of digital competency frameworks aimed at guiding national and regional governments in their integration of digital competence in teacher education. The discourses and assumptions underpinning digital competence frameworks are discussed in this paper using two influential supra-national competency frameworks, the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers and the DigCompEdu, as examples. The theoretical reflection argues that several influences have shaped the current discourse. These influences include the rise of teacher performance and competency frameworks, the tradition of ranking teachers’ levels of technology use and the techno-centric education discourses that align technology use with constructivist practices. Through this theoretical reflection, the paper raises questions about their use in, and implications for, teacher education arguing that, while such frameworks provide helpful guidance for policy makers and teacher educators, they may stifle teachers’ professional autonomy and straight-jacket technology use in a linear and deterministic manner.