Introduction
Background
Rationales for re-adding programming to the curriculum
Change bring challenges
Teachers—key policy enactors at the core of change
… teachers often lack the capacity—the knowledge, skills, personnel, and other resources—necessary to work in ways that are consistent with the policy. Spillane et al. warned that even if teachers understand the policymakers’ intentions, they still may not have the necessary skills and the human and material resources to accomplish what they perceive the policy to be asking of them. (Cheng and Wang 2009, p. 139)
Conceptual framework
Intrinsic challenges | Extrinsic challenges |
---|---|
I1. Professional knowledge and understanding | E1. Resources |
I2. Professional adequacy | E2. Time management |
I3. Professional attitudes and values | E3. Practicality of implementation |
I4. Teaching approach | E4. Student assessment |
I5. Ownership | E5. History and tradition |
E6. Professional development and support |
Purpose of study
Method
Context of study
Description of participants
Data collection
Data analysis
Analytical unit | Code | Type of challenge |
---|---|---|
… we have tested a little | Unstructured testing | Teaching approach (I4) |
here and a little there, testing | ||
different programs as well, | ||
but there hasn’t been any | ||
structure in the teaching | ||
around programming […] | ||
I do not feel that I have control, | Lack of control | Ownership (I5) |
I think it is almost unpleasant so… | Feeling unpleasant | Professional adequacy (I2) |
I would not refrain teaching it, but | Sense of responsibility | Beliefs and attitudes (I3) |
I have so many issues about this, | Having issues | Professional adequacy (I2) |
how should I assess, | Assessment | Student assessment (E4) |
how should I do… | Lack of knowledge and guidelines | Teaching approach (I4) Professional knowledge (I1) |
Results
Intrinsic challenges for implementation of programming
Professional knowledge and understanding (I1)
what I lack is… basic knowledge of programming, what it is, and some kind of a plan, what do we want to achieve, what steps do we need to take, there is no structured teaching and perhaps that is what I would like to see to be satisfied, so… but I do not yet have enough knowledge…
Oh, help, I know nothing about programming… I think many feel the same… there are probably few who… who feel… you have nothing to fall back to, you have no personal experience of it at all…
Professional adequacy (I2)
… I do not feel that I have control, I think it is almost unpleasant so… I would not refrain teaching it, but I have so many issues about this, how should I assess, how should I do, how do I get I control…
Professional attitudes and values (I3)
… I think it adds some spice to the life as a teacher… [it is] fun when something new comes along…it’s like: Yes, now something is happening!
… we have not come that far [in our preparations] either, but think it is going to work out fine [*easy laughter*] … but as you say, it feels exciting and interesting.
…there is this school digitalisation initiative, the mathematical boost, the reading boost… this is what I think, something has to be removed…
Teaching approach (I4)
So, for them it is just to grab a computer, I have the computer cart outside [the classroom] … then they can work for 20 min at Code.org, all by themselves. I don’t even have to prepare anything…
it [programming] has been addressed to a small extent, but rather unstructured, we have tested a little here and tested a little there, testing different programs as well, but there is no structure in teaching with programming…
… we have been working with programming, but it is like you take something that you think is good, and then you try it a little, we run these robots, then we try something else, but really, it has been more about picking what I personally think is fun and try to start somewhere…
Well, I think it is great fun to use digital gadgets, but sometimes when you use these things, the children do not really understand what they have been doing
Ownership (I5)
Extrinsic challenges for the implementation of programming
Resources (E1)
Teaching materials
There are many [children] who skipped directly to Flappy [Birds], without taking the steps in between…[…] they follow some of the steps in the first [task], some steps in the second, and then… awesome! Flappy Birds!… […]
IT infrastructure
… there were batteries that discharged, and there were synchronization problems between robots and computers, and some were not local administrators on the computers which meant that they were unable to install the necessary software and it is things like this… and then we had no network connection… and yeah you know… This is what I think has been most problematic, the rudimentary things you expect will work, otherwise… it drains your energy.
We are six classes that share one laptop cart with 24 computers, but right now, several are broken, and the largest class has 24 children […] they are so bad, buttons are missing, and they are not being replaced […] we were promised new computers a year ago … it makes you wonder what to do in the mean time?
Monetary resources
You know, we got… we had 0 SEK… when I started working at my school there was no technology institution, it was an integrated part of the science institution… so when the proposal came [from the government] to disconnect technology from the science subjects [and earmark 200 study hours for the technology subject], we just said [to ourselves]: we need money! Then we had enough to buy the Lego robots and after that we went to the school district manager to request an additional amount of money to make further investments…
Time management (E2)
… I just grab this sandwich lesson… but you would like some time to assess, what is this [good for], is it something [useful]…
… it is going to be difficult… you really have to find time to work together… it is a pity … but sometimes it is that time aspect… or that you are split on too many things so you don’t really know what you are doing…
Practicality of implementation (E3)
It feels like it has to be like this for a while, you do some testing and things will grow from there, it may be unwise to start with something too structured, and go too deep… maybe you put down quite a lot of work without having the knowledge to be able to do the job well.
Independent of what level you are at in the education system, all start at the same spot… no matter if you are in lower secondary school, or primary school, most pupils have no experience of programming… this means that all [pupils] start the same way…How do you take this further; we are currently looking at the learning progression… what to do in different grades, what teaching materials should we have, what is missing?
… I cannot do the same things with them when they come to me as of 4th grade, they would know these things already… that will be untested waters for me, I have never had pupils who knows something I have not taught them… about programming … but it will be very exciting and it will also affect lower secondary teachers and pupils [in a similar manner]
Student assessment (E4)
But programming, whether the code is smart or not can be assessed… If you use a loop instead of putting 38,000 commands in succession… Then it is a sign that you have understood, then you can assess…
I can immediately see if the Lego robots… […] it does not follow the planned route…
History and tradition (E5)
Professional development and support (E6)
Professional development opportunities and school leadership
they need to be clearer, the principals… let’s remove this… they could say, and then we add this [instead]…
You mention [the course] About programming, I have heard others who have taken this course already and you get this feeling that you should have done it long ago… Now we’re being told that, well, maybe we’ll do it in the fall, but I believe that you should have been there already … to get a good start.
… if you would have asked someone at our school a year ago, no one could have mentioned a single [improvement] goal, we have had so many goals and if you wanted to dedicate a staff meeting [to one specific goal], then it would have been every 10th meeting you would work with… [the same goal] […] so we decided to work with sustainable development and inclusive pedagogy alone…
…we have got started with […] co-operative learning throughout F-6,9 it is because one of the principals is pushing strongly for co-operative learning […] which means it is difficult to find time for something else…
It may depend on what principal you have […] our principal is really interested in digital learning, and he has spent lots of money on this […] primary school has iPads…
4-6 [the middle school teacher team] is really good, they read, do some course modules and then they use the next teacher team meeting [to discuss the course content] […] 7-9 [the lower secondary teacher team]… I am part of this team… we read freely… we do not have [any scheduled meetings for this particular course]… now I feel I have to try to make sure that we can have at least one check-off meeting
…we study at the same pace […] and [after completing the introductory course] we will try to divide us into different tracks [depending on subject] … we are doing this in a 4-9 constellation and, what should we do together…
Support structures
there are many [teachers] who have organized it in such a way that he has visited their classes to work with programming and these teachers have received some professional development at the same time…
I think it feels quite… the part about controlling objects, that you should control something, a physical device, it is something that is included in the technology subject, why not go to the Science Centre and get it covered, and afterwards you tick it off on the list…. Then you can spend more time thinking about text-based programming activities in your own unit… That is how I think anyway… I don’t know…