Social discussion of CS in K-12

[Avigail Snir <avigail AT snir.org>]

Thank you Martin!

On Tue, Jul 29, 2014 at 9:53 AM, Wolske, Martin B <mwolske AT illinois.edu> wrote:

Hi all,

Last Tuesday evening I mentioned that some colleagues, Larry Stillman and Tom Denison, who do similar work with communities around technology but internationally through Monash University pointed me to capability approach. I finally got to digging into it more and I think there's a lot to like as a compliment to Dewey's pragmatism, computational thinking for all, and other shared frameworks. A strong theoretical case is made for taking a multi-dimensional approach to human development and flourishing that goes beyond just employable skills and economic growth without diminishing those factors. It especially focuses on the importance of developing agency and freedom of choice/empowerment in individuals so that they can develop the capabilities they value and have reason to value -- that is, the theory focuses on processes and means, not the ends. It further recognizes that the resources needed to accomplish that will be different for each individual depending on their personal biographies -- that is, it calls into question generalized approaches that gloss over personal histories, economic and physical status, values, culture, etc.

The reason Larry and Tom put it forward was because they felt it resonated well with the work many of us do within the field of community informatics, and I'd suggest it seems to also resonate well with our group. Larry and Tom further hoped it might serve as a theoretical framing for that work that could help others, both academic and community, better appreciate why we suggest our approach is so valuable. It is in a similar vein that the United Nations and UNESCO have adopted capabilities approach to frame their human development reports and their work more broadly.

There's an introductory book available on capability approach that my students are finding useful available online at:
http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Resources/Publications/Pages/IDRCBookDetails.aspx?PublicationID=62
The first several chapters and the chapter on education seem especially helpful. I'd be very interested to hear others thoughts on the theory and its appropriateness for our work together as I continue to work to wrap my brain around this. I also have the paper Larry and Tom published on capability approach and community informatics, and perhaps a dozen papers that have also been published on capability approach and technology for development, including papers on capability approach, technology, and disabilities and a couple others on capability approach and design of technology, if anyone is interested in reading more.

-- Martin
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