From Frameworks to Trajectories: Toward an Emergent Understanding of Teacher Digital Competence

Teacher digital competence (TDC) has become a central concern in education, often framed through influential models which generally provide structured ways to define competence. This study adopts a qualitative, theory-informed conceptual analysis of three influential frameworks, including TPACK, DigCompEdu, and SAMR, selected for their sustained influence on research, policy, and professional development. Drawing on qualitative content analysis, key conceptual and policy texts associated with these frameworks were examined through Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and interpreted through a postdigital perspective. Findings indicate that selected models prioritize knowledge integration, staged progression, or standardized descriptors, while underrepresenting the contextual, relational, and temporal dimensions of teachers’ practice. These limitations are particularly visible in contexts with uneven conditions, such as Vietnam, where institutional constraints, resource disparities, and policy demands shape how competence is enacted. Based on recurring patterns across the three frameworks, the study proposes an ecological-postdigital trajectory as an alternative conceptualization of TDC. From this perspective, competence is not a fixed set of domains or levels, but an evolving process shaped by interactions between teacher agency and multi-layered systems over time. This reframing repositions existing frameworks as heuristic tools rather than comprehensive representations of competence. The study contributes a theoretically grounded perspective that shifts attention from static models to dynamic processes, with implications for research, professional development, and policy design.