Beyond Entertainment: Phenomenological Insights into Pakistani Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions of Video Games as Tools for Digital Citizenship Education

Abstract

This study examined how Pakistani teacher candidates, in their teacher training experience, understand video games when used as an educational platform to develop digital citizenship skills. The educational value of video games continues to gain international acknowledgement, but Pakistan lacks research on their incorporation into teaching education programmes, especially as part of digital citizenship programmes. The study was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) on 20 prospective teachers from Pakistani teacher-education institutions. The data from interviews and journals identified five core findings, including video game perception development, perceived digital citizenship benefits, and contextual, cultural parameters, and implementation barriers that shaped their professional identity growth. Research data show that participants approved of video games as critical digital skill developers, yet these teachers had reservations about cultural suitability and inadequate infrastructure. The participants showed a major cognitive shift by evolving their initial mindset that video games were only recreational entertainment into an educated awareness of their educational potential for digital citizenship learning. This research enhances the existing literature on integrating technology into teacher education by presenting findings from Pakistan, which align with the developing country’s standpoint. The following recommendations focus on teacher education programme reform through educational game-guided administrative experiences, cultural gaming resource development, and sustainable policies for game-based digital citizenship instruction in Pakistani educational settings.