Teachers’ Participation in Digitalization-Related Professional Development: An International Comparison

The global digital transformation poses challenges for schools and teachers. The importance of digitalization-related professional development (PD) in overcoming these challenges is widely recognized, even if only few studies confirm the desired success. This article explores the relationship between the participation of teachers in digitalization-related PD and variables that are associated with successful PD in an international context. The structural equation modeling analyses are based on data from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS 2018). Data from Chile (N = 1682 teachers), Denmark (N = 1108), Germany (N = 2303), the Republic of Korea (N = 2122), and the USA (N = 3174) are considered. These five countries are located on four different continents and have divergent conditions for working with ICT in schools and teacher PD. The results reveal significant relations between the participation in digitalization-related PD and positive views on using ICT in schools, the emphasis on promoting ICT-related skills among students, and the frequency of the use of ICT in the classroom across all countries. These findings demonstrate the importance of PD in the context of the digital transformation in schools, irrespective of international variations in school systems, digitalization processes, and conditions for PD.