Rethinking Programming Pedagogy amid the Digital Divide: Resources, Appropriation, and Agency in Ekurhuleni Township Schools
Mashite Tshidi · Journal of Education and Learning Technology · 2025
This study explores how Information Technology teachers in Ekurhuleni township schools navigate the complex interplay between digital inequality and programming pedagogy. Although programming has been integrated into the national curriculum through the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) framework, its implementation remains shaped by enduring inequalities in infrastructure, digital literacy, and teacher support. Anchored in an interpretivist paradigm and framed by Resources and Appropriation Theory (RAT) and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework (TPACK), the study adopted a qualitative case study design. Four teachers from townships in the Ekurhuleni municipality were purposively selected. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations and was reflexively analysed thematically. Findings reveal that programming teachers routinely confront structural challenges, including unreliable connectivity, insufficient devices, and varying learner competencies. However, they exercise agency through adaptive pedagogical strategies such as contextualised instruction, collaborative learning, and structured problem-solving. The findings call for equity-oriented curriculum reform, increased investment in digital infrastructure, and ongoing teacher support in historically disadvantaged contexts. These strategies mediate the effects of material access and support the development of computational thinking. The study is relevant to current debates on digital inequality. It contributes to scholarship by shifting the focus from deficit-based digital divide narratives to teacher-led adaptations within marginalised learning environments. Keywords: Computational Thinking, Digital Divide, Programming Pedagogy, Teacher Agency, Township Schools.