The Relevance of Teacher Autonomy - A Qualitative Case-Study of Malawi Unlocking Talent: Learning Through Technology

Abstract

While many countries worldwide have made substantial improvements in providing access to basic education, the quality of education has not been sufficiently emphasized. Attention within the international educational community has therefore been directed towards quality concerns, where information and communication technologies (ICTs) are considered to be central tools. ICTs have established themselves as significant tools for learning within educational systems worldwide, and considerable investments are placed on bringing ICTs into schools, even by countries with severely limited financial resources. Whether these investments are turned into profit, in the sense that the quality of education is enhanced as a consequence of the ICTs, remains a matter of debate. This study sets out to take part in the debate, by discussing whether the investment in touch-screen tablets is an appropriate tool to enhance the quality of education in one of the world`s least developed nations. A qualitative case-study of the donor-funded project Malawi Unlocking Talent (UT): learning through technology is conducted in order to critically contemplate on whether the investment in this specific project is appropriate taking in considerations of sustainability. Teacher autonomy, as depicted in Self Determination Theory (SDT), is identified as significant with regards to issues of sustainability. Qualitative observation and semi-structured interviews with some of the teachers working on the UT-project in Malawi constitutes the data of this study. Through a thematic analysis, the study is able to identify the standardized design of the UT-project as a significant threat towards teachers` feeling of autonomy. Conclusively, this research argue that quality judgements of these types of donor-funded projects should critically consider issues of autonomy not only for the sake of the sustainability of the specific ICT intervention, but also for the sake of the development of the individual teachers` well-being and for the educational system in its entirety.