Restorying a Black girl’s future: Using womanist storytelling methodologies to reimagine dominant narratives in computing education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Scholarship demonstrates that Black girls’ capacities to imagine possible futures in computing are constrained by narratives of white masculinity and misogynoir embedded within computing. Building on race critical code studies and identity-as-narrative theories, we examine restorying through Black womanist storytelling methodologies for integrating Black girls’ intersectional identities when designing and reimagining their computing futures. We ask: How might womanist storytelling methods support one Black girl in restorying possible computing futures? Methods We present a case focused on one study participant, Heather’s, restorying practices situated within a larger workshop wherein marginalized youth reimagined dominant narratives about computer science (CS). This was by creating interactive quilt patches using paper circuits and microcontrollers that challenged dominant narratives of white masculinity and misogynoir normalized throughout the field. Findings We see that restorying through womanist storytelling methods allowed Heather to (1) deconstruct narratives of white masculinity and misogynoir throughout CS education by centering Black women’s ways of knowing and doing, and (2) restory the past to enact possible CS futures and identities through computing. Contribution In the discussion, we address challenges and successes with integrating Black girls’ experiences with speculative methodologies in learning sciences research.