Colaboración docente y usos de las TIC en los centros educativos de Uruguay. Estudio de casos múltiples en el contexto del Plan Ceibal

The study has been conducted in the department of Colonia, in Uruguay, to explore the forms of collaboration between teachers at a professional level and the use of technologies for collaborative work in the context of 1: 1 ICT inclusion model. The relevance of these issues and the scarcity of research in this regard, both internationally and nationally, have allowed this research to focus on the following objectives: i) analyse the forms of collaborative work among primary and secondary school teachers in public educational institutions; ii) identify and analyse teacher collaboration processes, inside and outside the centre, with or without the use of ICT; iii) compare intra-centre and inter-centre teachers’ collaborative practices; and iv) analyse practices used for collective reflection, and the capture and organization of pedagogical knowledge developed from teacher collaboration.

The review of the literature has made it possible to refine concepts, review models and understand the state of the art regarding ICT-mediated teacher collaboration. The fieldwork has been developed from a multiple case study involving four public primary education schools and four secondary schools, included in the Ceibal Plan.

Qualitative data collection instruments have been used to gather the opinion of teachers and directors from the selected schools. In each case, a discussion group was held among teachers. also, in-depth interviews were conducted with the director and two teachers, one identified by their colleagues as an example of collaborative professional and the other as individualistic. The opinion of teachers with different work styles has made it possible to understand how this phenomenon occurs, as well as its barriers and facilitators.

The results have pointed out three relevant aspects: the existing confusion about what collaboration involves at the level of teachers and principals, the lack of experiences of meaningful collaboration sustained and oriented to organisational development, and the lack of ICT use to promote collaborative work. Likewise, the results contribute to rethink the organization of the schools involved in this study and the subsystems that have been studied. The results of this research can benefit the education of the country and contribute to the reflection on the promotion of changes in the educational policies regarding teacher collaboration, mediated or not by the technology.