Weaving the Digital Thread: Unpacking Meta-Didactic Praxeologies in Preparing Mathematics Teachers for Instructional Technology Integration
摘要
The integration of instructional technology into mathematics teacher education has gained global momentum, yet the pedagogical reasoning behind such integration remains under-theorised, particularly in resource-constrained contexts. Despite the increasing adoption of practice-based teacher education, little is known about how mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) design and justify learning experiences that prepare pre-service teachers to engage meaningfully with instructional technology in mathematics teaching. This study investigates the meta-didactic praxeologies of two MTEs at a Ghanaian university, focusing on how they structure and rationalise the integration of instructional technology in mathematics teacher education. Drawing on the Anthropological Theory of the Didactic and the construct of meta-didactic praxeologies, the study employs a qualitative case study design using course plans and semi-structured interviews as data sources. Analytical attention was given to four praxeological components: type of task, technique, technology, and theory. The findings show that MTEs enacted distinct pedagogical configurations: one that privileged artefact-based inquiry and collaborative design through dynamic mathematics software, and the other that prioritised foundational fluency using productivity tools to address digital literacy gaps. Both MTEs employed modelling, decomposition, and rehearsal to approximate practice, legitimising their approaches through tacit theories of learning and context-sensitive justification. The study concludes that meaningful instructional technology integration depends not merely on the availability of digital tools but on the reflective, situated pedagogical work of MTEs. It calls for greater recognition of teacher educators’ agency in shaping digital reform and advocates for supportive structures that allow instructional technology to be integrated not as an add-on, but as a principled component of mathematics pedagogy.