Investigating digital poverty and the new forms of agency and advocacy needed in initial teacher education

Abstract

Using Judith Butler’s theory of performative subjection, this paper explores the issue of digital poverty in Initial Teacher Education and the need for new forms of agency and advocacy to address it. The concept of digital agency (DA) and educational data advocacy (EDA) are discussed as possible ameliorating concepts for digital poverty and the increasing digital divide in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). In this theoretical paper, the authors employ the concept of DA alongside EDA specifically in the context of learners in university settings where technology is often used but the level of autonomy that students experience might vary considerably. Drawing on the context of Australian Initial Teacher Education programs, the paper calls for greater advocacy around the potential for forms of discrimination, inequity, and prejudice perpetuated as a result of digital poverty. The authors draw on two studies and examine their own practices in relation to the ways teaching academics might act as Educational Data Advocates (EDA) in Initial Teacher Education. The findings provide a novel perspective of the ways Digital Poverty in Australian Initial Teacher Education programs are associated with agency and advocacy, with implications for policy and practice in an increasingly digitised teacher training context. © 2025 Australian Teacher Education Association