Investigating the dynamic roles of educators: a research-driven exploration of teachers designing technology tools for enhanced classroom experiences in Pakistani public schools

Thesis

Educational innovations, especially digital learning technologies, have often been imposed on teachers to integrate into their teaching practices without accounting for their individual experiences and preferences in designing and implementing these innovations. In educational research, one of the methodologies employed to centre teachers’ contextual insights and challenges is the participatory design approach that engages teachers as designers of learning innovations, collaborating with researchers and technological designers. Despite the benefits of participatory research with teachers documented in the literature, its application in developing countries, such as Pakistan, with strained and underfunded public education systems is severely underexplored. To investigate the applicability of this approach in Pakistan, this qualitative study explores the engagement of sixteen public school teachers from four public schools in Islamabad, the capital city, in participatory design workshops. In the study’s first phase, teachers discussed their daily teaching challenges, shared their insights on practitioner-led educational research in Pakistan and examined the usefulness of existing learning technologies. The understanding obtained from this first phase informed the second phase, where the teachers collaboratively redesigned their preferred digital innovations in design workshops, adding specific features to alleviate their issues and evaluating their efficacy in under-resourced public schools.

The study’s findings highlight that teachers feel marginalised by the country’s education system and have limited agency to influence institutional practices and government policies as their perspectives are neglected in educational research, the design of digital tools, and the implementation of digital pilot programs. However, their reflections on participating in design workshops suggest they experience empowerment and professional development while collaboratively designing innovative tools and discussing strategies to minimise their persistent classroom challenges. Moreover, such workshops motivate teachers to seek local opportunities to lead educational research and foster a more optimistic perspective on their professional roles. Thus, the findings from the study’s early-stage participatory design process promote involving teachers in longitudinal participatory educational research in Pakistan to advance education technology scholarship and enable continuous teacher professional development by developing their research and design skills.

Authors: Khawar, U

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-ag6jddgr8
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Pakistani public schools; participatory design research; DSC2024; qualitative open-ended surveys; digital technology adoption; teacher professional development; qualitative focus group discussions; teachers designing digital tools; DSC
• Subjects: Qualitative research; Research; Education; Public schools--Pakistan; Surveys