Beyond a battery hen model?: a computer laboratory, micropolitics and educational change

Abstract

This paper investigates what happened in one Australian primary school as part of the establishment, use and development of a computer laboratory over a period of two years. As part of a school renewal project, the computer laboratory was introduced as an ‘innovative’ way to improve the skills of teachers and children in information and communication technologies and to lead to curriculum change. However, the way in which the laboratory was conceptualised and used worked against achieving these goals. The micropolitics of educational change and an input–output understanding of computers meant that change remained structural rather than pedagogical or philosophical.

Keywords:

• school renewal
• computer laboratory
• educational change
• micropolitics
• information and communication technologies

Acknowledgements

This research was made possible by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant (2002–2004) and the industry partner, the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts.