“Re-membering” in CS: A Multi-case Study of Distributed Support for Ethically Aware Computing Education

• In Event: Can Education Stop Killer Robots? Exploring Values, Ethics, and Impacts in K12 Computer Science Instruction

Abstract

Racial exclusion in K-12 computer science (CS) classrooms is more than a broadening participation issue, it is a serious threat to the epistemic and racial pluralism required for building a multi-racial democracy. While some view computing artifacts and education as ‘value-neutral’, they are embedded with values and cultural norms (Benjamin, 2019; Israel & Amer, 2021). Given this, what values should CS education technologies and pedagogies have for fostering epistemic and racial pluralism? One strategy for answering this question is detailing cases of community-teacher partnerships within K-12 CS education.

In this study, a researcher, a CS instructor, and a cultural expert engaged in a co-teaching process that drew on the artifacts and technologies of Black textile design to carry out Culturally Responsive-Sustaining CS education (Davis et al., 2021). The study was informed by the process of “re-membering”, using cultural memory– cultural practices, values, and epistemes– as a catalyst for innovation (King & Swartz, 2018). I hypothesized that cultural memory can support educators’ pedagogical training and help them to address the social realities of racial exclusion in CS classrooms (Allen Kuyenga, 2023; Yadav et al., 2025). Indeed, it has been argued that CS education should support ethical reasoning skills, highlighting cultural values, implementation, and impacts of computing (Kirdani-Ryan & Ko, 2022; Morales-Navarro & Kafai, 2023).

I used a multi-case study design (Yin, 2014), implementing a co-teaching model where a university CS instructor and a cultural expert collaborated to teach two advanced placement high school CS courses. Data included observations, teacher artifacts, and pre- and post-interviews. The data were triangulated (Carter, 2014) to build a case for each course. Interview transcripts were analyzed through two rounds of coding, In Vivo and thematic coding. Teacher artifacts and observations were used to corroborate the themes from the interviews to build cases.

This research found that in “re-membering” practices the instructor and technologies, artifacts, and practices of a textile artist provided insight into how we can represent pluralistic and anti-essentialist racial identities in CS education. Cultural experts can help educators ethically engage with racial identities in CS classrooms when they support the representation of diverse in-group creativity (i.e., textile design) and local epistemologies (e.g., from cultural experts). Therefore, including cultural experts in CS education is one ethical approach to racial inclusion, helping teachers challenge harmful and static views of racial identities by promoting epistemic and racial pluralism in CS instruction. This type of pluralism opens up the possibilities for how communities interact with computing and for creative participation in computing from diverse communities.

The co-teaching process highlights the need for “re-membering” as we grapple with uncertain and volatile political, educational, and technological landscapes. Cultural memory supports the inclusion of diverse epistemes, practices, and values in CS education, adding to the collective uplift of people in ways that value dynamic identity development (King & Swartz, 2018). The educator and cultural expert provided insights into conversations and commitments to rigorous, culturally sustaining and ethically aware CS instruction that supports the epistemic and racial pluralism required for a multi-racial democracy

Author

• Madison C Allen Kuyenga, Pennsylvania State University