Fostering Race-Conscious Literacies in Computer Science Teacher Education

The majority of CS teachers in the U.S. are white. It is crucial to shift white CS teachers away from race avoidance and towards race-conscious literacies. Prior research in teacher education, computer science education, and the critical study of whiteness has found that recognition of their identities and role in race relations is important for authentic Culturally Responsive Computing (CRC) implementation. In this experience report, I describe in detail a professional development workshop that facilitated race-conscious literacies in computing spaces for white high-school CS teachers. In the initial phase of the workshop, the teachers explored their racial identities through photographs and facilitated dialogues surrounding systemic privileges. In the subsequent phase, the teachers explored a computational tool designed to prompt a reflection on the desegregation of public elementary schools. Following these engagements, the effectiveness of the workshop in establishing a space for race-conscious literacies was evaluated through guided discussion prompts and the creation of lesson plans by the teachers. In general, the teachers were able to confront and reconcile their racial identities, systemic privilege, and the tensions they encountered while navigating this topic, though to varying degrees. Their created lesson plans also had elements of race-consciousness raising exercises for their privileged students. Finally, I provide reflections on elements that worked well in the professional development workshop and those that could be improved for future adaptations by practitioners.