Creator, Rebel, Guardian, Unsuspecting User: Teachers and Modern Educational Practices

Tomasz Kasprzak, Olga Jurkowska, Alek Tarkowski and Anna Buchner
Communia Association (CC-0) |  Full Report (PDF)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:  We asked thirty teachers from five European countries about copyright in schools. Our respondents included teachers implementing education innovations and actively using new technologies. These are our study’s key findings:

The best way for teachers to gain familiarity with copyright is to become creators of educational materials. Such creators have two options: either use copyright to protect their work or share it using a Creative Commons license.

The other reason why teachers become aware of copyright is related to their students. Teachers have to explain to them how materials may be used legally.

The Internet has turned copyright into an important topic in schools. Copying web content and sharing and exchanging proprietary materials compel teachers to pose questions regarding legal issues.

The best teachers who are ambitious and innovative have gained copyright knowledge by learning on their own or through supplemental training. In copyright they sell not only a tool that can be helpful in using educational materials but also a source of limitations and uncertainty.

Nevertheless, most teachers are bereft of copyright knowledge. They are not taught copyright during their studies, nor do they obtain any support from their own schools or the education system. In their case, copyright prevents them from using digital resources and expanding the range of materials they use.

Creator, guardian, rebel and unsuspecting user are the four most common roles teachers play when it comes to copyright. These roles depend on the level of familiarity with new technologies and the degree to which they
consider educational objectives to be more important than copyright protection (or conversely).

Many teachers who create content apply copyright not to protect their work but rather to share it. They emphasize the importance of community with other teachers and the ensuing willingness to exchange resources.