Critical digital literacy as a key for (post)digital citizenship: an international review of teacher competence frameworks

The use of information and communication technologies for education is increasingly recognised as essential in a post- pandemic world. In this regard, the ability to effectively engage with technologies for educational purposes is now part of the basic knowledge, skills and attitudes to be expected from anyone in the teaching profession. Accentuated by the proliferation of technology-mediated situations resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, but linked to a longer-term trend, dealing with the digital is also now an almost unavoidable aspect of active participation in society and civic engagement. Indeed, the notion of ‘postdigital’ is rapidly gaining traction as a way to highlight that the digital and non-digital cannot be really separated anymore and, due to this fact, (post)digital citizenship is emerging as a core competence for citizens. Still, the way digitally competent educators are expected to support learners in their development as digital citizens is not explored enough. To contribute to closing this gap, this paper reviews 24 teacher competence frameworks from different regions of the world and makes the case for considering educators’ critical digital literacy as a key leverage to building digital (post)citizenship and fostering ethical uses of technology. The analysis reveals that critical digital literacy is mostly missing and, hence, the paper closes with a set of recommendations for policymakers and institutional leaders in the education sector on how to incorporate critical aspects of digital literacy in educators’ professional development activities, so that teachers and trainers can operate as a much needed vector to develop (post)digital citizenship across our societies.