Navigating the Digital Shift in Mozambique: Teacher Agency and Digital Learning in Schools

Abstract

The educational technology industry frequently promotes the idea of a significant paradigm shift, proposing that technology can supplant traditional, transmission-based pedagogies such as ‘tell and practice’ approaches. In theory, this perspective positions digital tools as catalysts for systemic educational reform, capable of replacing rote learning with dynamic, technology-supported models (Voogt et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2024; Casilli & Posada, 2019). Employing an interpretative, empirical methodology, involving questionnaires and interviews with secondary school teachers. Data from this study are used to explore teachers’ experiences with digital learning tools through the lens of Activity Theory. This study examines the digital shift within Mozambique’s K-12 education system reforms, focusing on how teachers’ position themselves in the adoption of digital learning tools (DLTs) for pedagogical resilience. It takes as its point of departure the prevailing discourse in the educational technology industry, which positions these tools as direct and inherent enhancers of educational outcomes. In particular, it explores a largely ‘unseen’ transition’, a profound shift in which technology actively shapes pedagogical practice, teacher identity, and professional agency, thereby redefining the very concept of what constitutes a ‘learning space’ and, indeed, ‘learning itself.’ The findings reveal that teacher positionality ranges from enthusiastic adoption to active resistance, reflecting mediated agency rather than individual capability. These positions are rational responses to systemic contradictions, including infrastructural limitations, unequal digital access, and inadequate training, all of which impede equitable implementation. Consequently, the study contributes to a socio-cultural understanding of digital integration, contending that sustainable digital integration results from addressing deep-rooted systemic contradictions specific to context, rather than being a mere technical outcome.
 

Date of Award	2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Plymouth
Sponsors	Commonwealth Scholarship Commission
Supervisor	Nick Pratt (Director of Studies (First Supervisor)) & Peter Kelly (Other Supervisor)