Elementary Teachers’ Positional Identities and Dispositions Toward Culturally Responsive Computational Thinking-Integrated Science

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Sociopolitical Issues in STEM Teacher Education (Table 14)

Abstract

Opportunities to learn computer science, specifically computational thinking (CT), tend to be available only to students from school districts with extensive support for computing education. To help increase student access to CT, we examine focus group data from two separate PD implementations in two distinct areas of the U.S. to understand how elementary teachers’ positional identities influenced their understanding of culturally responsive CT-integrated science (the central topic of the PDs). Focusing on the teachers’ district affiliations and racial identities, we found that these identities influenced how each teacher defined CRT, perceived their students, and positioned themselves to each other. Our findings suggest that PD facilitators and researchers center teachers’ positional identities and their impact on teacher growth and understanding.

Authors

• Kristina Kramarczuk, University of Maryland

• Jeremy Bernier, Clemson University

• Francheska K. Figueroa, Arizona State University

• Lin Yan, Arizona State University

• Ebony Terrell Shockley, University of Maryland

• Ashley Coen, Hood College

• Man Su, Saarland Informatics Campus

• Brian C. Nelson, Arizona State University

• Yue Xin, University of Maryland

• Diane Jass Ketelhut, University of Maryland