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In this work, we present a professional development (PD) program thatseeks to support elementary teachers as they integrate computer science (CS) with disciplinary content and culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) to create inclusive environments that engage all students with computing. Using semi-structured interviews with 17 participants, we subsequently examine the content, technology tools, and CRP strategies that teachers perceived as represented in lessons designed during their participation in PD. Findings indicated that teachers integrated CS tools primarily with literacy and utilized CRP strategies commonly cited as instructional best practices (e.g., differentiation). Results have implications for future PD as well as research that seeks to support teacher learning about CS-integrated instruction.
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A case study of whiteness at work in an elementary classroom
We are interested in how whiteness shaped one teacher’s abilities to engage his elemen- tary school students in culturally responsive pedagogy, especially his abilities to engage or avoid conversations about race-based inequities in an integrated technology unit focused on NGSS disciplinary practices. We draw upon culturally responsive pedagogy, critical race theory, and critical whiteness studies to understand the role of whiteness in a single case study of integrated elementary science teaching leveraging electronic textiles technology. The case study reported here is part of a larger study investigating how technology inte- gration supports justice-centered science learning for elementary school teachers and their students in the Intermountain Region of the USA. The authors are white and Latino and all, but one, are former classroom teachers. Drawing on multiple data sources (field notes of classroom observations, interviews, transcripts of video-recorded classroom sessions), we developed a single descriptive case to illustrate shifts in teacher practice over time. We documented one white, male, fifth grade teacher’s engagements with his students around issues of race as manifested in conversations about immigration, migration, and forced relocation in an integrated technology unit focused on NGSS disciplinary practices. This single case and the teacher perspectives it illustrates are resonant not only of our data but also the scholarly literature on white pre- and in-service teachers in the USA. We conclude with some practical recommendations for teacher professional development.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1758823
- PAR ID:
- 10341307
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Cultural Studies of Science Education
- ISSN:
- 1871-1502
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-022-10121-8
