Towards a Framework of Pedagogical Paradoxes: A Phenomenographic Study of Teachers Designing Learning Experiences and Environments With ICT in Singapore Classrooms

Abstract

This paper discusses how teachers reconcile tensions as they design learning experiences and environments with Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) in Singapore classrooms. Through applying a paradoxical lens, we describe conflicting demands and contradictory considerations that teachers face. Adopting a phenomenographical approach, we examine the narratives of 2 teacher participants documented in pre- and post- lesson conferences, classroom enactments and interviews, so as to tease out variations in the ways they experienced and mediated the paradoxical tensions. Based on the findings of these tensions, a pedagogical paradoxes framework is presented, illustrating the interplay between the different dimensions of the paradoxes. By surfacing these paradoxes, we hope to draw awareness to the challenges and reconciliation in the decision-making and rationalisation process that teachers as learning designers may experience. A heightened awareness can enable teachers to consciously negotiate the paradoxes in designing different kinds of learning experiences better tailored for their students.