Critical Pedagogy in Practice in the Computing Classroom

Abstract

To enact social justice in the computer science classroom, we need to go beyond adding token ethics modules to Computer Science (CS) curricula and to rethink the power structures in our pedagogical practices. Critical pedagogy (CP) is a long-standing pedagogical tradition that aims to re-envision power structures in the classroom, but has been relatively underutilized in computing education. To go beyond theoretical ideas of what CP should be in CS, we interviewed 13 computing educators who identified as being influenced by critical pedagogy. We asked participants about their teaching practices, and how they apply CP ideals in their classrooms. To illustrate themes from our interviews and to give a rich description of what a CP-influenced classroom looks like, we present three vignettes highlighting a contrast of approaches to critical CS education: raising students' critical consciousness to see structures of oppression, helping students learn technology that supports their activism, and changing what it means to do computer science by integrating social and political forces. By providing tangible, concrete examples we hope to provide educators with inspiration for their own practice.