Situated Digital Teacher Competence in Tanzania: Infrastructure, Policy, and School-Level Constraints in an ICT Professional Development Program

Abstract

The study examines how in-service teachers’ competence in emerging digital technologies developed through an ICT-focused professional development program implemented within Tanzania’s secondary education context. Rather than treating digital tools as neutral or universal technologies, the study situates teacher competence within the institutional, infrastructural, and school-level conditions that shape educational technology use in Tanzania. Using a retrospective pre–post survey design, the study collected data from 881 teachers who rated their perceived competence before and after training across multiple digital-teaching and Computer Science-related competency domains. The study computed pre-training competence, post-training competence, and mean gain scores, and conducted descriptive comparisons by gender and region. Findings indicate a substantial increase in perceived competence following the training. The average competence score increased from 2.80 (SD = 0.74) before training to 4.34 (SD = 0.53) after training, corresponding to an average gain of +1.54 points (SD = 0.60) and a very large standardized paired change (Cohen’s dz = 2.56). Gains were evident across regions and gender groups, with female respondents reporting larger descriptive gains than male respondents. Exploratory regression results showed that baseline competence was the strongest predictor of gain, while laptop or desktop ownership was positively associated with gains in emerging competence, digital ethics, and internet safety. Qualitative findings, however, show that local school realities strongly condition the translation of training into classroom practice, including shortages of computers, projectors, routers, computer laboratories, electricity, reliable internet, and institutional support. The study therefore contributes to educational technology research by showing that teacher digital competence in low-resource contexts is not only a matter of skills acquisition but also a situated outcome shaped by infrastructure, policy, institutional culture, and local implementation constraints.