The digitally competent teacher: agentic professional in the digital age or digitally compliant learning technician?

This chapter explores how the different responses to the digital transformation agenda in education can have significant implications for teachers and teachers’ digital competence. It argues that digital competence can be conceptualized in a compliance-oriented way or a professionally empowering way. A compliance-oriented perspective on teachers’ digital competence focuses on developing teachers’ technological know-how, often viewing teachers’ professional knowledge through a technology lens and promoting a ‘learning technician’ role. This approach risks eroding teachers’ autonomy, professional judgement and status. Conversely, an empowerment-oriented perspective values teachers’ deep knowledge base and professional autonomy, encouraging them to critically engage with digital transformation guided by their educational values. This perspective promotes proactive responses to technology in education, rather than more reactionary responses. This chapter also explores the shifting role of the teacher in light of broader societal and educational changes.