Unleading as Unforgetting: Computer Science Teacher Relational Networks for Systemic Transformation

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Sunday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Developing and Supporting Teacher Leadership Roles

Abstract

This paper reports on a study examining how computer science (CS) teachers transformed statewide educational systems by embodying the concept of “unleadership,” moving beyond historically individualistic formations in favor of more collective action. We analyzed how 28 teachers in Oregon's CS initiative shifted competitive values toward collaboration, developed horizontal networks, and enacted leadership through equity-focused transformation. Our findings reveal teachers generated distributed leadership networks that challenged exclusionary practices in computing education and worked toward building more inclusive and equitable futures. Despite institutional resistance and unsupportive contexts, teachers took action to address systemic inequities, revealing the tensions they navigated in their practice. This research advances educational leadership scholarship by demonstrating how relationally centered leadership models sustain equity-driven change.

Authors

• Joanna Goode, University of Oregon

• Adrienne Pinsoneault, University of Oregon

• Casey Emmanuel Tiemannn, University of Oregon

• Jill Hubbard, Oregon State University - Cascades