This study is an account of the Computer Science for All Initiative in New York City (CS4All). In this study, I draw on actor-network (Latour 2005) approaches to trace connections among actors in assemblage with this effort to bring computer science education to all students in all grade bands of New York City public schools in the span of ten years. I explore terms contained in the announcement and official descriptions of the initiative such as “public private partnership” “in use” (Varenne 1977) among actors. I trace assemblages and work involved in training in-service teachers to teach computer science. I also situate initiative goals related to, among other terms, employment, literacy, and equity “in use” as they relate to initiative activities such as recruitment and evaluation. This dissertation may be of most interest to those with connections to efforts to expand computer science education, and I hope it will also interest anyone who wants to engage with examples of changes in schooling.
While this account traces a small span and limited part of the assemblage connected to the CS4All initiative, my hope is that it provides a worthwhile elaboration on the who, what, when and where of initiative efforts. I aim to treat descriptions of the initiative as a starting point to examining the large amount of work and many actors assembled with the initiative, both human and non-human. I join others in anthropology of policy who look to how policy is assembled in practices that are situated and far flung (Shore and Wright 1997; Levinson and Sutton 2001). In doing so, I aim to provide opportunities for those who wish to engage with schooling policies to make useful connections to an account of situated activities assembled with CS4All.
In tracing an assemblage of actors involved in an initiative to change New York City public schools, I focus on actors and work outside of classrooms to extend this inquiry into the shaping of the conditions of schooling beyond school buildings and program settings. However, I also include teachers and the many roles they play in shaping the initiative in this account. I found actors assembled with a range of goals as they worked to connect the expansion of computer science education with institutions. Attempts to create standards, forms and evaluations unfolded in assemblage with these multiple goals and motivations for involvement. I hope this account is useful in joining with other examinations of how the conditions of schooling encountered by teachers and students in classrooms are made and remade in assemblages that extend beyond classrooms, through an instance of efforts to make changes in the largest public school district in the United States.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:columbia.edu/oai:academiccommons.columbia.edu:10.7916/nbva-pw93 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Riina-Ferrie, Joseph Daniel |
| Source Sets | Columbia University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Theses |
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