Primary Teachers’ Lived Experiences of Digital Competencies Required for Post-Covid-19 Era: A Phenomenological Study

Digital competence is defined as a set of knowledge, skills, strategies, and awareness required when using information and communication technologies. Digitally competent teachers can effectively model and use instructional experiences designed, implemented, and evaluated to engage students and enhance their learning. The aim of the current research was to investigate and identify the lived experiences and perceptions of primary school teachers about the digital skills they needed in the post-Covid-19 era.

This applied qualitative research adopted a descriptive phenomenological approach. For this purpose, 27 primary school teachers in Sari, Mazandaran Province, Iran, were selected through criteria-based purposive sampling with maximum variation, and semistructured in-depth interviews were used to investigate their perception and lived experience of digital competencies. To validate the findings, peer review and two external experts’ opinions were used to examine the data. Data were analyzed based on Colaizzi’s (1969) seven-step analysis method.

The findings in the interview section with primary school teachers showed that teachers’ perceptions of digital competencies in the post-Covid-19 era included 12 themes as follows: digital education strategies, teaching and learning goals in the digital space, digital education infrastructure, cooperation with stakeholders, expansion of technological communication, spiritual influence of teachers in the digital environment, digitization of behavior, orientation towards digitization, digital management system, information skills, content creation skills, skills related to the use of digital tools. The aforementioned 12 themes encompassed 36 sub-themes.

Based on the findings, it can be stated that to advance and improve primary school teachers’ digital competencies, policy-makers and educational planners need to modify the upstream documents in line with the identified components of teachers’ digital competencies. Furthermore, digitally competent teachers and educational technology experts should be invited to equip teachers with digital skills and competencies