Pragmatic Sense-Making: How Philosophy and Critical Pedagogy Support Learning About the Politics of Cryptotechnologies in an Out-of-School STEM Program

• In Event: Navigating the Dilemmas, Tensions, and Contradictions of Teaching Critical Issues in the Pursuit of "Truth"

Abstract

Studying the intersections between technology, ethics, and power has emerged as a significant area of learning (Vakil & Higgs, 2019). A growing number of social scientists, artists, activists, and public educators have shown how new technologies perpetuate, and in some cases exacerbate, long-standing societal inequities (e.g., Benjamin, 2019; Browne, 2015; Noble, 2018; Zuboff, 2019). Scholars have demonstrated the urgent need to grapple with how a range of new digitally-mediated technologies are shaping our perceptions and interpretations of the world, accelerating political polarization (Bail et al, 2018), and creating information silos (Chou, Oh, & Klein, 2018). And yet in education, learning about the ethics and politics of technology is seldom the focus of pedagogical or curricular design. In particular, there are few spaces designed to support what we call pragmatic sensemaking about the complex interactions between technology and society.

We define pragmatic sensemaking as a socio-cognitive process where theoretical questions of power, race, and technology are explored through a situated attunement to the practical considerations that shape individuals’ lives, identities, and experiences. Drawing from pragmatic philosophy and theories of critical pedagogy, a pragmatic sensemaking approach urges educators to see and respect the philosophical sensemaking of young people (Vakil & McKinney de Royston, 2022), even and perhaps particularly when there are unexpected ideological divergences between youth and/or between adults and youth (Philip et al., 2018).

We explore pragmatic sensemaking through a case study of two students in a program designed to engage youth in critical inquiry into the technologies impacting their local communities. We present the case of Ebo and Abraham, two rising high school juniors who recently immigrated with their families to the Chicago area from West Africa. Our paper explores the pedagogical and ethical challenges our design team encountered while co-designing a learning experience for Ebo and Abraham rooted in their interests in crypotechnologies. For example, we had to hold in tension our skepticism and concern about cryptotechnologies with the young men's apparent enthusiasm. Our paper has implications for civics and technology education education as well as educators practicing critical pedagogy.

Authors

• Sepehr Vakil, Northwestern University
  Presenting Author

• Charles Logan, Northwestern University
  Presenting Author

• Alisa Reith, Northwestern University
  Presenting Author

• Shai Moore, Northwestern University
  Presenting Author

• Allison Scott, Kapor Center for Social Impact
  Presenting Author

• Shana Vidal White, Kapor Center
  Presenting Author