Exploring Politicized Trust in a Racially Diverse Computer Science Classroom

ABSTRACT Over the past decade, abroad range of policymakers, corporations, educators, and scholars in the United States have catapulted computer science (CS) education from the sidelines to the center of K-12 public education discourse. While calls for CS education are often framed in terms of national and economic competitiveness, there is a growing interest amongst equity scholars in curricular interventions that directly engage the ethical and sociopolitical issues surrounding CS and its role in society. Yet, less attention has been given to how sociocultural dynamics of classrooms play a mediating role in these spaces. Drawing on video data from an equity-oriented CS classroom, we argue aconflict that arose during design activities was rooted in alack of trust and solidarity between students. Ultimately, we make the case that in addition to curricular innovations, equity efforts in CS education must prioritize the cultivation of positive student relationships.

[1]  Michael Omi,et al.  Racial formation in the United States , 1986 .

[2]  Sepehr Vakil,et al.  Rethinking Race and Power in Design-Based Research: Reflections from the Field , 2016 .

[3]  Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant.  A Movement Against and Beyond Boundaries: "Politically Relevant Teaching" Among African American Teachers , 1999 .

[4]  N. Way,et al.  Experiences of Discrimination among African American, Asian American, and Latino Adolescents in an Urban High School , 2004 .

[5]  Henry A. Giroux.  Border Crossings: Cultural Workers and the Politics of Education , 1991 .

[6]  Helen R. Quinn,et al.  Science and Language for English Language Learners in Relation to Next Generation Science Standards and with Implications for Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics , 2013 .

[7]  Rachel A. Lotan,et al.  Working for Equity in Heterogeneous Classrooms: Sociological Theory in Practice (Sociology of Education Series) , 1997 .

[8]  D. Fitch,et al.  Review of "Algorithms of oppression: how search engines reinforce racism," by Noble, S. U. (2018). New York, New York: NYU Press. , 2018, CDQR.

[9]  Ricki Goldman,et al.  Conducting Video Research in the Learning Sciences: Guidance on Selection, Analysis, Technology, and Ethics , 2010 .

[10]  Jennifer Miquelle Smith,et al.  Subtractive Schooling: US-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring , 2002 .

[11]  Joanna Goode,et al.  If You Build Teachers, Will Students Come? The Role of Teachers in Broadening Computer Science Learning for Urban Youth , 2007 .

[12]  Brigid Barron.  When Smart Groups Fail , 2003 .

[13]  Caitlin K. Martin,et al.  Digital Youth Divas: Exploring Narrative-Driven Curriculum to Spark Middle School Girls’ Interest in Computational Activities , 2017 .

[14]  Jo Boaler,et al.  Connecting Mathematical Ideas: Middle School Video Cases to Support Teaching and Learning , 2005 .

[15]  D. Gillborn.  Education policy as an act of white supremacy: whiteness, critical race theory and education reform , 2005 .

[16]  GoodeJoanna,et al.  Exploring Computer Science , 2011 .

[17]  D. Fox Harrell.  Phantasmal Media: An Approach to Imagination, Computation, and Expression , 2013 .

[18]  C. Calhoun.  Critical Social Theory: Culture, History, and the Challenge of Difference , 1995 .

[19]  Gloria J. Ladson-Billings,et al.  Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy , 1995 .

[20]  Jennifer M. Langer-Osuna,et al.  Toward a Model of Influence in Persuasive Discussions: Negotiating Quality, Authority, Privilege, and Access Within a Student-Led Argument , 2014 .

[21]  Tara J. Yosso,et al.  Critical Race Theory, Racial Microaggressions, and Campus Racial Climate: The Experiences of African American College Students. , 2017 .

[22]  Hannah Lebovits.  Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor , 2018, Public Integrity.

[23]  Sepehr Vakil,et al.  Ethics, Identity, and Political Vision: Toward a Justice-Centered Approach to Equity in Computer Science Education. , 2018 .

[24]  Carolyn Kieran,et al.  Cognition as Communication: Rethinking Learning-by-Talking Through Multi-Faceted Analysis of Students' Mathematical Interactions , 2001 .

[25]  Jennifer M. Langer-Osuna,et al.  Power in Numbers: Student Participation in Mathematical Discussions in Heterogeneous Spaces , 2013 .

[26]  Minjung Ryu.  Positionings of racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority students in high school biology class: Implications for science education in diverse classrooms , 2015 .

[27]  Nancy Fraser.  From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a “Postsocialist” Age , 2014 .

[28]  N. Noddings.  Caring : a relational approach to ethics & moral education , 2013 .

[29]  S. Noble.  Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism , 2018 .

[30]  E. Bonilla-Silva,et al.  Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America , 2003 .

[31]  Jo Boaler,et al.  Promoting ‘relational equity’ and high mathematics achievement through an innovative mixed‐ability approach , 2008 .

[32]  Ann L. Brown,et al.  Communities of Learning and Thinking, or A Context by Any Other Name , 1990 .

[33]  N. Nasir,et al.  “He's More like a ‘Brother’ than a Teacher”: Politicized Caring in a Program for African American Males , 2017, Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education.

[34]  P. Freire.  Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage , 1998 .

[35]  Tesha Sengupta-Irving.  Affinity through Mathematical Activity: Cultivating Democratic Learning Communities , 2014, Journal of Urban Mathematics Education.

[36]  J. Greeno.  THE SITUATIVITY OF KNOWING, LEARNING, AND RESEARCH , 1998 .

[37]  Jean J. Ryoo,et al.  Democratizing computer science knowledge: transforming the face of computer science through public high school education , 2013 .

[38]  Kris D. Gutiérrez,et al.  Lifting Off the Ground to Return Anew: Mediated Praxis, Transformative Learning, and Social Design Experiments , 2010 .

[39]  Denice Ward Hood,et al.  CompuGirls: designing a culturally relevant technology program , 2009 .

[40]  Andrew C. Porter,et al.  Common Core Standards , 2011 .

[41]  J. Lemke.  Articulating communities: Sociocultural perspectives on science education , 2001 .

[42]  Conor P. McLaughlin.  A Movement Against and Beyond Boundaries: Exploring the Impact of Transgressive Teaching on the Student Affairs Practices of White, Heterosexual Men , 2017 .