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Indigenous communities remain among the most underrepresented groups in computing and STEM fields, facing systemic barriers to equitable participation in computer science (CS) education. This study examines how Indigenous-serving teachers, through a sustained professional development (PD) program, design and implement culturally responsive computing (CRC) curricula in Indigenous-serving schools. Guided by the research question: How does sustained CS professional development inform the design of culturally responsive computing curricula by experienced CS teachers in Indigenous-serving schools? We employed a natural language processing (NLP) data fusion approach that integrates text mining and qualitative thematic analysis to investigate how teachers incorporate Indigenous knowledge into computing instruction. Our findings reveal three emergent themes in teacher learning and lesson design: Creating opportunities to access culture through computation, Leveraging Research and Critical Thinking Skills to Critically Engage Students with Computing, and Reflection, refinement, and professional growth through ongoing collaboration. These themes underscore the impact of CRC on bridging cultural traditions with computing, fostering engagement, and enhancing Indigenous students’ sense of belonging in CS. By supporting teachers in developing culturally relevant lessons that integrate storytelling, traditional arts, and computational thinking, this research contributes to the broader discourse on inclusive CS education. This study informs future efforts to expand Indigenous student participation in computing by highlighting the role of culturally sustaining pedagogy in professional development and curriculum design.
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How Can We Engage in Inclusive, Culturally Responsive Computer Science?
In this BoF we discuss the tenets of culturally responsive computer science and how teachers, professors and providers of professional development can include culturally responsive perspectives in their classes. In contrast to other academic fields, which typically include rigid curricular tracks ostensibly based on academic performance, talent, or ability that pose structural barriers to access to rigorous academic instruction for underrepresented students, the field of computer science education is explicitly focused on broadening participation, as evidenced by the SIGCSE community's consistent emphasis on equitable representation. Culturally responsive computing (CRC) is founded on culturally responsive teaching (CRT) and on CRT's three tenets: asset building (in contrast to deficit approaches), reflection, and connectedness. CRC frames these tenets for the specifics of computing education. CRC's tenet that all students are capable of digital innovation should drive teachers' interactions and relationships with students. CRC also requires that teachers be continually reflective about their privilege and constraints and how those are connected with our worldviews. This topic is significant because teachers must be connected to their students in non-traditional ways that prize diversity as an asset to innovation. The participants are expected to include professors, lecturers, high school teachers and industry experts who are interested in employing culturally responsive computing approaches in their own teaching and professional development activities. A major goal of the BoF is to establish connections among the participants to promote the sharing of resources and best practices.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1738760
- PAR ID:
- 10117598
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, {SIGCSE}
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1251 to 1251
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Porter, Leo; Brown, Neil; Morrison, Briana; Montero, Calkin (Ed.)Indigenous communities remain significantly underrepresented in computer science (CS) and STEM fields, facing persistent barriers such as limited access to resources, infrastructure, and culturally relevant instruction. This study investigated how educators serving Indigenous populations designed and implemented culturally responsive computing (CRC)[2] curricula within a long-term professional development program grounded in a design-based research framework. The study examined how sustained, collaborative support enabled educators to effectively integrate Indigenous cultural knowledge, values, and practices into computer science education. Seven secondary teachers who work in schools in Arizona and New Mexico with over 90% Native American enrollment participated in a two-year professional development program called Let’s Talk Code Teaching Fellow. The program consisted of twelve online modules,weekly virtual meetings, in-personworkshops, and conference participation[3]. Following the DBR framework [1], teachers engaged in iterative cycles of lesson design, implementation, and revision, creating and teaching three culturally relevant computer science lessons. They received feedback from fellow teachers and research teams, allowing them to improve the connection between computing and cultural relevance in their lessons. The study employed a mixed-methods approach to data collection and analysis. Qualitative data included 14 finalized lesson plans, teacher reflections, teacher interviews, and classroom observation notes, which were thematically analyzed to identify common instructional practices and challenges, as well as strategies that connect culture and computing. Our findings showed that teachers sustained local culture by integrating Indigenous languages and art and innovative computing tools such as Scratch, micro: bit, and Sphero robots into their computing lessons. Teachers reported an increase in their confidence in computer science instruction following the long-term PD and benefited from a strong professional learning community.more » « less
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293743
