Conference Agenda

The development of digital technologies has significantly influenced education, accompanied by the generation of large volumes of data (McCarthy et al., 2023). The use of data can help teachers to narrow academic performance gaps among students (Gullo, 2013). However, the challenges of teacher’s use of data in the classroom still exist (Reeves et al., 2016), including a struggle to effectively analyze data (Garner et al., 2017). These challenges highlight the need for structured approaches that support teachers in integrating data into their instruction. There is another significant limitation in the current research on data-driven instruction, which is the lack of a clear and unified conceptual framework to understand how teachers utilize data in their instruction and what kinds of professional knowledge or skills are needed. While scholars have explored teachers’ data use and proposed theoretical models concerning data literacy and data-driven decision-making (Gummer & Mandinach, 2015; Mandinach, 2012; Mandinach & Gummer, 2016), some crucial gaps still remain that present a comprehensive understanding of instruction. The lack of attention on the perspective of instruction design framework also leads to the neglect on what types of data actually used by teachers in instructional practice. Moreover, although contextual factors have been identified as influential to data usage (Huguet et al., 2014), these factors are rarely explicitly connected to the practice of teachers’ data-driven instructional practices. Therefore, the instruction design theoretical framework that employs systematic models and a broad set of principles to guide the planning and implementation of effective instruction is needed (Abuhassna & Alnawajha, 2023). The theoretical framework of instruction design can inform us of the various components of instruction, thereby facilitating the analysis of the instructional components of Data-driven Instruction Competence(DDIC). At the same time, this study will also be based on the competence theoretical framework of teachers. Competence is a multidimensional construct encompassing not only the knowledge and skills of teachers but also attitudes (Blömeke et al., 2015). Based on this framework, DDIC not only includes knowledge and skills, but also should possess attitudes or beliefs and so on. Specifically, this research will explore the following questions: (1) What is the definition of DDIC? (2) What types of data are addressed in existing studies when describing teachers’ data use in instructional practice? (3) What contextual factors influence DDIC? (4) What instruments are used to assess teachers’ DDIC? Based on the instruction design framework and the competence framework, this study focuses on primary and secondary school teachers, aiming to define the DDIC of teachers, analyze the specific data types that teachers adopt in their instructional practices, identify the factors that influence teachers’ DDIC in educational contexts, and explore the instruments used to assess teachers’ DDIC. This provides a more instructional and contextual perspective to understand how teachers’ use data in their instruction, thereby equipping teachers with targeted support to effectively integrate data into their instructional practices in educational contexts.

Across Europe and the OECD, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds remain persistently underrepresented in the teaching profession (Schleicher, 2014; Donlevy et al., 2016; Ingersoll et al., 2021). Despite extensive policy initiatives to diversify initial teacher education (ITE) recruitment, the teaching workforce remains strikingly homogeneous in its class composition across multiple national systems (Abawi & Eizadirad, 2020). This lack of diversity is especially concerning given mounting evidence that teacher diversity enhances outcomes for marginalised students and strengthens the profession’s capacity to challenge educational inequalities (Ingersoll et al., 2021).

Existing research has documented this underrepresentation and examined the experiences of working-class individuals who successfully navigate ITE pathways (Goodwin, 2020; Keane et al., 2018, 2020, 2022). However, we rarely hear directly from young people in disadvantaged schools about how they themselves view teaching as a possible career. Understanding why teaching does – or does not – appeal to these students is crucial if we wish to address workforce homogeneity at its roots.

This study asks: What factors attract or repel students attending disadvantaged schools from pursuing teaching careers, and how do these students understand the role of teachers and education in relation to social class and opportunity?

The research is situated within Ireland’s DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) system, which designates schools serving disadvantaged communities for additional support. DEIS is comparable to the UK's Pupil Premium initiative, French REP (priority education networks), and similar targeted intervention programmes across Europe. Eleven DEIS primary and post-primary schools participate in this doctoral study, enabling analysis across age phases and institutional contexts.

The theoretical framework draws on critical European social theory, combining Bourdieu’s account of social reproduction and cultural capital (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990), Foucault’s analytics of power and governmentality, Marx’s critique of class relations and Freire’s critical pedagogy (1993). Within this transformative paradigm, education is conceptualised as a site of both oppression and potential liberation: the study examines how power operates through schooling to normalise class hierarchies while also exploring possibilities for consciousness-raising and emancipatory practice.

The study employs a critical pedagogical approach (Freire, 1993; Gandin, 2012; Giroux, 2011; hooks, 1994) through a series of structured workshops with participating classes. These workshops serve a dual role: they act as research instruments generating rich qualitative data, and create spaces for critical reflection on social class identity, conceptualisations of power (Harwood et al., 2014), the purposes of education, and the role of teachers as agents within social structures. Workshop activities encourage students to examine their own educational experiences, consider how class operates in schools, and reflect on whether teaching represents a viable or desirable career path for people from their backgrounds.

The study also draws on motivational scholarship, particularly the Four Phase Model of Interest Development (Hidi & Renninger, 2006) and Expectancy–Value Theory (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020), to analyse how interest in teaching careers develops—or fails to develop—among this student population.

This research contributes to European and international debates on teacher education by centring student voice in understanding recruitment barriers, offering methodological innovation in using critical pedagogy as both intervention and investigation, and providing evidence that can inform policy approaches to diversifying the teaching profession in contexts where class-based educational inequality persists.

This presentation describes a study based on a development project funded by the Swedish Cultural Foundation and conducted in collaboration between three universities. The project aims to develop educational pathways enabling Finnish Swedish-speaking generalist student teachers to achieve subject teacher qualification in music within the framework of their degree. Previous research shows that many Finnish generalist teachers experience music teaching as challenging due to limited training. The situation is particularly problematic in Swedish-language education. For example, there is substantial variation in the skill levels of Swedish-speaking generalist teachers, partly due to the lack of accessible study opportunities. Unlike Finnish-speaking student teachers, Swedish-speaking student teachers also lack functioning study pathways to enter further music studies. These challenges are particularly salient in light of current European Higher Education Area priorities, which emphasise coherent study pathways, student mobility, and the transparent recognition of studies through ECTS-based structures and flexible learning paths. Findings from the project’s survey data indicate a clear gap between existing musical competence and interest among Swedish-speaking generalist student teachers and their actual engagement in further music studies, suggesting that current study structures and pathways inhibit the translation of potential into concrete study choices. Research on initial teacher education shows that generalist teachers face high expectations to teach music despite limited training, and that institutional conditions and structural barriers shape student engagement, with implications for confidence, access to advanced and subject-specialist studies (e.g. major studies), and educational choices regarding further or deeper engagement in a subject, as well as for learning outcomes. Consequently, the project seeks to examine the current situation and to develop flexible study pathways and learning materials that support Swedish-speaking generalist student teachers in continuing their music studies towards full qualification.