Computational thinking CT is central to computer science, yet there is a gap in the literature on the best ways to implement CT in early childhood classrooms. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how early childhood teachers enacted asset-based pedagogies while implementing CT in their classrooms. We followed a group of 28 early childhood educators who began with a summer institute and then participated in multiple professional learning activities over one year. Examining a subset of the larger group, findings illustrate how teachers intentionally created learning communities that empowered students and utilized their expertise to guide CT learning in their classrooms. Teachers recognized that asset-based approaches to CT instruction empowered not just their students but also themselves. By using asset-based CT pedagogies, early childhood teachers can better support students from marginalized communities, reducing achievement gaps and inequities in digital learning.
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Teachers’ Use of Resources for Equitable Integration of Computation in Science Classrooms
While computation is a crucial aspect of modern science, students rarely have opportunities to engage in such work. In this study, we designed a series of professional learning opportunities for 12 physics teachers to support their enactment of equitable computational pedagogies. We asked how and why teachers utilized two primary resources of the PLS when making decisions about computational pedagogies. We analyzed multiple data sources using lenses from a situative learning perspective to examine teachers’ critical pedagogical discourses. We discuss how teachers’ critical discourses shaped the way the resources were utilized when designing computational learning opportunities for their students and the implications for future equity-oriented computational professional learning opportunities for teachers.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1741575
- PAR ID:
- 10439270
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- International Society of the Learning Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2022
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 905-008
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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N/A (Ed.)Background:Engineering's introduction into K–12 classrooms has been purported to support meaningful and inclusive learning environments. However, teachers must contend with dominant discourses embedded in US schooling that justify inequitable distributions of resources. Purpose:Drawing on Gee's notion of discourses, we examine how teachers incorporate language legitimizing socially and culturally constructed values and beliefs. In particular, we focus on the discourse of ability hierarchy—reflecting dominant values of sorting and ranking students based on perceived academic abilities—and the discourse of individual blame—reflecting dominant framings of educational problems as solely the responsibility of individual students or families. We aim to understand how these discourses surface in teachers' reasoning about teaching engineering. Method:We interviewed 15 teachers enrolled in an online graduate program in engineering education. Utilizing critical discourse analysis, we analyzed how teachers drew on discourses of blame and ability hierarchy when reasoning about problems of practice in engineering. Results:Teachers drew on engineering education concepts to reinforce dominant discourses (echoing specific language and preserving given roles) as well as to disrupt (utilizing different language or roles that [implicitly] challenge) dominant discourses. Importantly, teachers could also retool discourses of ability hierarchy (arguing for a more equitable distribution of resources but problematically preserving the values of ranking and sorting students). Conclusions:K–12 schooling's sociohistorical context can shape how teachers make sense of engineering in ways that implicate race, gender, disability, and language, suggesting a need to grapple with how discourses from schooling—and engineering culture—maintain marginalizing environments for students.more » « less
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