Investigating the influences of mathematics teachers’ personal orientations and instrumental genesis on their mathematical digital knowledge for teaching

The practical implementation of technology in the mathematics curriculum for senior high schools is contingent upon teachers’ dispositions, encompassing their perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes toward technology use, as well as their instrumental orientation. Despite widespread investments in digital technologies for schooling, mathematics teachers’ use of technology often remains pedagogically limited, raising questions about how digital teaching knowledge develops. Drawing on the instrumental approach and the Mathematical Digital Knowledge for Teaching (MDKT) framework, this study examined how teachers’ personal orientations toward technology and their instrumental genesis shape MDKT. Survey data were collected from senior high school mathematics teachers in Ghana and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Results show that teachers’ personal orientations have significant positive effects on both instrumental genesis and MDKT. Instrumental genesis also strongly predicts MDKT, indicating that sustained appropriation of digital tools is central to developing integrated mathematical digital teaching knowledge. The model explains sustained variance in MDKT, suggesting that digital teaching competence emerges from the interaction between orientations and tool use rather than from access or technical skill alone. The findings extend prior descriptive work and highlight mechanisms critical for supporting meaningful technology integration in mathematics education.