Visibility of eTwinning Projects Group July 2026 Newsletter
Teacher Education for European Digital Sovereignty: A Critical Challenge for Contemporary Education by Rosa Luísa Gaspar
European digital sovereignty has become a key issue in debates on education, technology and democracy. In a society increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, datafication, cloud services and digital platforms, schools cannot use digital tools only in a technical or instrumental way. They must also understand the values, risks and power relations embedded in these technologies. As Pohle and Thiel( 2020) argue, digital sovereignty is a contested but increasingly central concept in digital policy. In education, it can be understood as the capacity of schools, teachers and learners to make informed, ethical and autonomous decisions in digital environments.
Teacher education is therefore essential. Preparing teachers for European digital sovereignty means enabling them to choose technologies critically, protect learners’ data, use artificial intelligence responsibly and promote democratic digital citizenship. This perspective is aligned with the Digital Education Action Plan 2021 – 2027, which highlights the need for high-quality, inclusive and accessible digital education in Europe( European Commission, 2020). However, this ambition cannot be achieved only through access to devices or platforms. It requires teachers who are able to question how digital tools work, what data they collect, who controls them and how they influence teaching, learning and assessment.
For many years, teacher training in digital education focused mainly on operational competences: using a learning platform, creating online resources, designing quizzes or managing virtual classrooms. These skills remain necessary, but they are no longer sufficient. Teachers now need a broader professional competence that includes ethical awareness, data literacy, critical digital literacy and pedagogical judgement.
The European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators, known as DigCompEdu, supports this broader understanding by organising educators’ digital competence into areas such as professional engagement, digital resources, teaching and learning, assessment, learner empowerment and the development of students’ digital competence( Redecker, 2017).
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