Race(ing) to Computer Science for All: Disrupting Color-Blind Discourse in Professional Development

• In Event: 47.027 - CS for All: An Intersectional Approach to Unpacking Equity in Computer Science Education

Abstract

Efforts to broaden participation in computers science often focuses on developing teacher knowledge in computing so that more students, and more diverse groups of students, have increased access to computer science learning. Yet, without explicitly addressing issues of inequities linked to race and opportunity, school reform initiatives fail to achieve the goals of desegregation and instead perpetuate the racist myth of ‘separate and equal’ (Cochran-Smith, 1995; Wells, 2014; Bonilla-Silva, 2013). Integrating instruction that focuses on race and computer science in teacher education provides opportunities to disrupt colorblind dialogue that can materialize as evading discourses, individualistic discourses, or deflection discourses (Segall & Garrett, 2013). This poster reports on a study that employed a critical discourse analysis to understand the following question: How and when do teachers dialogue around issues of race and equity in relationship to teaching and learning computer science?

This mixed-methods study took place in a week-long, residential PD workshop designed to prepare teachers from across the United States to instruct an Exploring Computer Science (ECS) course at the high school level. About a third of the teachers returned from a previous summer ECS PD to extend their learning. We collected a pre-PD survey, a post-PD survey, and field notes throughout the week as teachers engaged in their professional learning. This mixed-methods data allowed us to examine how teachers discuss race and equity in the context of teaching computer science, and how teachers’ belief systems and discourse might change over time in a professional learning environment that centers equity and inclusion.

Our findings demonstrated a wide range of how teachers engage in conversations about equity and access. Many teachers used colorblind language, such as “they”, “them”, “those students”, even when engaging in research readings and curricular lessons that center race in computer science. Some teachers discussed their discomfort with teaching lessons about cornrows and computing, expressing doubt and uncertainty about the inclusion of this lesson and their own professional ability to teach this lesson to their students. Yet, we also found that the returning teachers, who were often engaging in conversations for the second year around race and computer science education, were more confident, direct, and explicit about race and racism when discussing issues of access and inclusion in computer science.

The results of this study provide insights on how teachers dialogue about race in computer science education and indicates that the integration of scholarly readings and curricular lessons that center on race are essential ingredients for fostering conversations about how to successfully engage students of color in computer science classrooms. Further, the significant differences between how second-year teachers openly engaged in dialogue around race, as compared to first-year teachers, indicates the value of a long-term and multi-cohort model of professional development in computer science.

Authors

• Joanna Goode, University of Oregon

• Stephany RunningHawk Johnson, University of Oregon - Center on Teaching and Learning

• Allison Ivey, University of Oregon

• Makseem Angel Skorodinsky, University of Oregon

• Jean J. Ryoo, University of California - Los Angeles