New Report Explores Values Driving the Computer Science for All Movement
CSforALL Releases a New Report that Explores Values-Driven Design and Implementation of CS Education.
New York, New York (December 11, 2019) — During this year’s Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), CSforALL (Computer Science for ALL) released a new publication, ‘CS for What? Diverse Visions of Computer Science Education in Practice,’ that addresses a foundational question: “Why Should All Students Learn Computer Science?”.
The publication answers this question by exploring how the rationales, values, and intended impacts of CS education initiatives are linked to choices around design and implementation of those efforts. The report, developed through a collaborative process involving over 50 CS education stakeholders in New York City, shares a new ‘CS Visions Framework’, a tool that outlines seven core values and impacts driving CS education. It then shares examples of how different CSed curricula, programs, and tools enact particular values and rationales; and recommends ways people involved in CSed can use their community’s values to guide the design and implementation of CS learning opportunities.
The Seven Core Values and Impacts:
- Equity and Social Justice
- Competencies and Literacies
- Citizenship and Civic Engagement
- Technological, Social and Scientific Innovation
- Economic and Workforce Development
- School Reform and Improvement
- Personal Agency, Joy and Fulfillment
“The CSforALL movement needs to move beyond simply pushing for “more CSed” and towards an opening dialogue within communities about why they care about CS education,” said Rafi Santo, PhD, Research Associate, CSforALL. “The ideas in the publication support all stakeholders to do the challenging work of hashing out their values and aspirations around bringing CS to their students. If this happens well, CS education initiatives across the country will better address community needs and issues of equity.”
CSforALL encourages CS education stakeholders to develop a clear ‘CS Vision’, a process where they aim to gain clarity on five things. Identifying their rationales for CS education — the why. Understanding that any given rationale has underlying values about what is important, and for whom. Rationales and values require aligned education designs — what should learning look like and how should it be supported? These design approaches then have to be translated into effective implementation strategies in order to reach intended impacts for individuals, community, and society.
“CSforAll’s hopes are for a movement made up of many local efforts — not a one size fits all model, but one where communities come together to center their own values as they define what CS education looks like for their students” said Leigh Ann DeLyser, Executive Director, CSforALL. “In doing so, the many efforts that make up the CS for all movement can become more rigorous, inclusive, and equitable.”
For further reading, check out our Medium Post.
Media Contact: Nadia Tronick, nadia@CSforALL.org
