The Limits of Coding: Mexican-Origin Boys as Aspiring Technology Experts in the Educational Borderlands

• In Event: 44.034 - Children's Books, Dungeons & Dragons, Twitter, and Coding: Tools for Ingenious Negotiations of Nondominant Learner Roles

Abstract

Objectives and Theoretical Framework:
Although equal educational opportunity for Latino boys is an area of research considered urgent and important (Saenz & Ponjuan 2009, Conchas & Vigil 2010, Oseguera et al. 2011), equality of access to informal digital literacy learning for this demographic has received less attention (Sánchez & Salazar 2012). The 18-month critical ethnographic study discussed in this paper focuses on Mexican-origin middle school boys’ self-directed digital literacy learning as an intervention. The study asks how a Chicanx mentor shepherded Mexican-origin boys across the educational borderlands (Murillo 1999) extant as the liminal space between childhood and young adulthood, how he modeled educational success, limit acts (Freire, 1970), and how the participants’ approaches, attitudes, and beliefs about education were augmented by self-directed informal learning centered around digital literacy projects such as graphic design, 3-D drafting and coding.

The theoretical framework draws upon critical pedagogy, utilizing the participants’ daily lived experiences and creative interests as a starting point for exploring the limit acts necessary to realize their transformative power in the context of perceived educational possibilities. The methodology builds upon this, employing ethnographic participant-observation, dialogue, and self-direction as an intervention for unequal digital learning access, resulting in a critical ethnographic approach (Madison 2011, Villenas & Foley 2011, Foley 2002).

Meeting weekly in a community center technology room, the researcher served as a guide – helping the participants problem-solve as they worked both individually and collaboratively on their digital literacy projects. The researcher also acted as a mentor, discussing with the participants imagined futures, definitions of success, and higher education aspirations. Data collection included audio recordings of the weekly sessions, ethnographic fieldnotes, and interviews. By focusing on participant-participant, participant-researcher, and participant-media interactions (vocalized and kinesthetic) as units of analysis, the researcher was able to index changes in behavior over time.

Methods/Data:
Approximately 70 hours of audio recordings, fieldnotes, three sets of interviews, student-produced digital products, and correspondence via social media, text messages, and e-mail were collected. Materials were ethnographically coded in Atlas.ti. Additionally, discourse analysis was also utilized in the course of selecting emergent themes.

Findings:
The findings suggest a methodological tension between the critical pedagogical approach and neoliberal aspirations of the individuals. However, while coding practices declined after the study, participants reported the development of communicative repertoires (Rymes 2015) and forms of social capital (Bourdieu 1977) requisite for formal educational success.

Significance:
The significance of this study is apparent in the development of the participants’ self-reported identity development as technological experts and knowledge producers. Further, it demonstrates how informal digital literacy endeavors performed with the help of a mentor instantiate a resource for connected learning (Ito, et al. 2013) that can be leveraged toward formal education trajectories.

Author

• Carlos Martínez-Cano, University of Pennsylvania