Fostering Intersectional Identities through Rhizomatic Learning

In this episode, Jon Stapleton and I read our (2022) publication titled “Fostering intersectional identities through rhizomatic learning,” which uses mapping as a metaphor for individualized learning.

  • Welcome back to another episode of the

    CSK8 podcast my name is Jared O'Leary

    each week of this podcast is either an

    interview with a guest or multiple guest

    or a solo episode where I unpack some

    scholarship in relation to Computer

    Science Education in this week's

    particular episode I'm unpacking a paper

    titled fostering intersectional

    identities through rhizomatic learning

    by John in Stapleton and Jared O'Leary

    that's me now if Jon's name sounds

    familiar it's because they've been on

    two different podcast episodes which I

    do link to in the show notes at

    jaredoleery.com in an interview with

    John we talk about like using Dungeons

    and Dragons as a metaphor for teaching

    or facilitating and then in a panel

    discussion we talk about rhizomatic

    learning with Katie Henry and Catherine

    bornhorst and in this particular episode

    I'm going to actually have us both take

    turns reading off a paper that we

    co-wrote together so in the past I've

    done some episodes where I will unpack a

    paper that I've written due to

    publishing issues but in this case we

    can actually read off the entire thing

    and I include a link to the paper itself

    if you want to read through it on your

    own rather than listen to us read

    through it you can find that at

    jaredelary.com under the podcast tab or

    under the Publications tab you'll also

    find hundreds if not thousands of free

    computer science education resources as

    well as a bunch of drumming and gaming

    content and then a link to boot.pd.org

    which is the non-profit that I work for

    and that powers this particular podcast

    here's the abstract for this particular

    paper quote many scholars have produced

    powerful equity-centered curricular and

    pedagogical approaches relevant to CS

    Educators however well-intentioned

    Educators and curriculum providers who

    intend to use culturally relevant

    approaches May mistakenly apply these

    Frameworks and unintentionally enact

    what we refer to as culturally specific

    approaches to education such approaches

    fail to account for students as

    multifaceted experiences of culture and

    identity and the design of their

    learning experiences ignoring their

    specific needs goals and desires for

    their learning rather than delivering

    content for groups of culturally

    specific identities this position paper

    describes a cartographical curricular

    and pedagogical approach informed by a

    rhizomatic philosophy of learning that

    Fosters dialogue among students as

    individuals with unique identities

    interests and needs that teachers and

    students explore together through

    Computer Science Education we position

    rhizomatic pedagogy as an additional

    lens to apply alongside other Frameworks

    for fostering Equity one that

    establishes a set of strategies for

    engaging students in dialogue around

    their learning experiences empowering

    Learners to participate in the

    co-construction of their educational

    spaces and building curricula that

    Express hyperlocal deeply situated

    student-centered teaching and learning

    practices end quote power to summarize

    this paper into a single sentence I'd

    say that this paper uses mapping as a

    metaphor for individualized learning

    right so many terms used within that

    that we do unpack a little bit in the

    paper but this is a short paper we were

    limited to four pages with references so

    I'm going to include some links to some

    other podcast episodes in the show notes

    that kind of unpack some of these ideas

    a little bit more like deeply situated

    what does that mean well if you listen

    to the interview with Brian Brown we

    talk about situated language and

    learning which is a concept discussed by

    James Paul G who we do cite in this

    particular paper all right so John and I

    are going to take turns reading off

    different sections of this particular

    paper so here is John beginning with the

    introduction since Ladson Billings

    foundational work on culturally relevant

    pedagogy many scholars have introduced

    similar equity-centered curricular and

    pedagogical approaches including

    culturally responsive pedagogy

    culturally sustaining pedagogy and more

    recently culturally responsive

    sustaining computer science pedagogy

    equity-centered approaches like these

    intend to ensure that quote students

    interests identities and cultures are

    embraced and affirmed however we argue

    that well-intentioned Educators and

    curriculum providers who intend to use

    culturally relevant approaches often

    mistakenly use what we refer to as

    culturally specific approaches to

    education culturally specific curricula

    and pedagogies treat a collection of

    students as groups within a narrowly

    defined lens of quote culture eg a

    single demographic such as gender or

    race rather than as individuals with

    unique and intersecting identities

    interests and needs these approaches

    fail to engage teachers and students in

    a rare and dialogue one that positions

    students as co-investigators of their

    own education Nation through a learning

    process that should not quote become a

    simple exchange of ideas to be consumed

    by the discussants consider a

    hypothetical educator who uses a

    culturally specific curriculum in

    pedagogy to differentiate CS instruction

    based on whether a student identifies as

    female male or non-binary although CS

    education scholarship might propose a

    multitude of evidence-based approaches

    designed for each of these three gender

    categories these design and

    implementation strategies are

    insufficient for addressing the

    multiplicitous nature of humans

    interests desires and learning needs

    across intersections of gender culture

    race and marginalization for example how

    might a curriculum designed for a female

    male or non-binary students also

    differentiate for someone who is

    transitioning between genders what about

    for non-binary students who are black

    compared with non-binary students who

    are white Pacific Islander or even mixed

    race what about for a white non-binary

    student in a low-income rural community

    who is trilingual and has limited

    English proficiency compared to a

    Pacific island female student in a high

    income urban community who is

    monolingual and has advanced English

    English language proficiency if a

    hypothetical educator expands beyond

    differentiating for gender to include

    more identities how many cultural layers

    and intersecting identity permutations

    will they differentiate for if an

    underrepresented identity or

    marginalized culture is excluded from

    this intersecting web of differentiation

    is the educator unknowingly reinforcing

    oppressive power structures or engaging

    in various forms of colonization

    curricula designed at scale often fail

    to express learning experiences that

    Embrace students intersecting cultures

    identities and social contexts and offer

    very little support to teachers seeking

    to accommodate their specific Learners

    needs this position paper describes a

    curricular and pedagogical approach that

    engages in continual dialogue with

    students as individuals with unique

    identities interests and needs that

    teachers and students explore together

    through Computer Science Education we

    begin with a vignette a classroom where

    Educators and Learners co-design

    learning experiences through continual

    dialogue next we unpack the practices

    and approaches illustrated by the

    vignette using a metaphor that positions

    teachers and Learners as cartographers

    we then discuss pedagogy that is

    conducive to teachers and students

    collaboratively mapping individualized

    Journeys through CS education finally we

    discuss theoretical Frameworks which

    inform this approach we argue that

    engaging Learners in Collaborative

    dialogical Learning experiences offers a

    strategy for avoiding culturally

    specific pedagogies and embracing more

    responsive equity-centered Computer

    Science teaching section 2 mapping the

    following subsections articulate one

    possible vision of cartographic pedagogy

    where Educators engage students in the

    co-construction of a collective learning

    experience we embed practical

    suggestions for practitioners throughout

    our illustration of a cartographical

    orientation to CS pedagogy 2A planning

    and widening paths imagine walking into

    a classroom and having your attention

    immediately drawn toward a map on a

    bulletin board that nearly covers the

    largest wall in the classroom on the map

    is a colorful display of index cards

    that each represent a different CS

    concept or practice that students have

    engaged with so far that year along with

    some unexplored extras that the teacher

    has provided to tease potential new

    directions to explore most of the

    students have chosen to create simple

    video games during the semester so a lot

    of the index cards deal with the main

    specific game development topics drawing

    and animating a Sprite using a button to

    control the value of a variable creating

    objects to represent game entities

    Etc the teacher has organized the

    color-coded index cards such that the

    simpler topics are to the left with the

    more complex topics further to the right

    side of the board interspersed

    throughout the map are several

    student-created project cards that show

    the unique projects that members of the

    class have worked on so far these cards

    display where the projects lie in

    relation to the concepts and practices

    displayed on the map and include a long

    piece of yarn connected to various

    Concepts and practices that were used in

    a project as you continue to scan the

    room you notice students in various

    group sizes are spread throughout the

    class discussing a variety of ideas and

    topics each student is in charge of

    their own goals for what they will

    explore and create in their next project

    even when choosing to collaborate within

    a group after much disc session the

    teacher asks students to write their

    project ideas on new index cards and pin

    them to the map in a location they think

    is best situated within the variegated

    CS Concepts practices and projects after

    much discussion with their peers one

    student named Morgan has decided to

    change their focus to a project topic

    that has not been explored by anyone in

    the class yet so they placed their card

    in a relatively empty area near the

    right side of the board once everyone

    has added their cards to the map the

    students begin tracing an anticipated

    path they will Traverse as they work on

    completing their projects over the next

    few weeks Dakota was really inspired by

    Riley's project from last month so they

    have decided to create a similar game

    with a couple of new features when

    pending their project near Riley's

    previous project card they use Riley's

    prior yarn Trail as a starting point and

    potential guide for creating a similar

    project retracing known paths most

    students however quickly realize that

    they already worn paths often miss

    Concepts and practices needed to

    complete their new project variations

    with help from their teacher they do

    their best to predict what concepts and

    practices they will need to developed to

    bridge these gaps and add new cards to

    the map however everyone in the class

    understands and expects their actual

    paths to deviate from their initial plan

    once they get going once students have

    mapped their path the work begins some

    students start reviewing old Concepts

    practices and projects from earlier in

    the year While others jump into

    exploring the new Concepts and practices

    they will need for their project

    throughout the year students and the

    teacher collaboratively expand upon the

    map by providing videos examples

    tutorials and other resources to use

    with new complications and unexpected

    challenges arise as students Trace their

    Pals they add new yarn trails to the map

    for other students to build upon in the

    future the vignette above illuminates an

    approach for teaching Learners to code

    by engaging them in mapping a

    pedagogical technique that poses map

    making as a heuristic for how educators

    and Learners might collaboratively

    engage in curriculum design learning and

    reflection in formalized learning

    context rather than building experiences

    for Learners this fictionalized story

    illustrates how educators might build

    learning experiences with them by

    engaging in continuous dialogue with

    each learner's goals identities

    interests and needs throughout the

    project work and in the instructional

    design process this cartographical

    approach contrasts with culturally

    specific approaches to education which

    place the Learners within groups and ask

    them to collectively Traverse worn paths

    designed for a particular culture or

    identity in other words instead of

    assigning Learners to paths designed for

    a particular group a mapping approach

    encourages Learners to choose widen or

    Forge their own path through a

    collaborative Exploration with and

    through dialogue between both peers and

    Educators section 2B keeping on the

    grass magic computer science as a vast

    Wilderness and Learners as Travelers in

    it as learning to explore the territory

    of computer science they come to know

    things within computer science the same

    way someone might come to know a

    distinctive tree or an abandoned Barn

    nestled deep in the woods these

    locations represent the things people

    come to know about computer science or a

    computer science subdomain but Learners

    do not often wander aimlessly stumbling

    upon new ideas and and topics instead

    they often pursue a goal something they

    want to be able to do in the domain this

    goal is like a landmark peeking up over

    the tops of trees visible to the learner

    from a great distance Granite Cliff face

    or an old fire tower a learner will

    stumble upon new locations as they

    travel from where they are or what they

    know to where they want to be or what

    they want to know when the learner keeps

    a record of their path they create a map

    of their learning experience that other

    Learners might retrace or analyze later

    in practice mapping involves balancing

    the work of defining a domain setting

    learning objectives and Scaffolding

    students learning between Educators and

    Learners mapping contrasts sharply with

    a quote backward design curricular

    design strategy where the teacher

    defines learning objectives or landmarks

    for students and supervises students as

    they all trace a predefined sequence

    together backward design situates the

    educator as the bearer of knowledge who

    guides Learners along the quote correct

    learning path if a project with backward

    design includes culturally specific

    pedagogies there might be multiple paths

    assigned to different groups of students

    oriented toward a common curricular goal

    these paths however resemble sidewalks

    meant to keep students off the grass by

    guiding them along a route with limited

    deviation from the original design in

    addition these paths are often not

    chosen by a learner to match their own

    goals identities interests and needs but

    instead are assigned by an external

    curriculum developer or by an educator

    backward design fails to create space

    for dialogue among Learners and

    Educators instead placing instructional

    design Authority in the teacher's hands

    alone in contrast mapping encourages

    each learner to widen previously worn

    paths and to Forge New Paths altogether

    by metaphorically keeping off the quote

    sidewalk and on the quote grass although

    mapping might interest Educators who

    feel constrained by boundaries imposed

    by culturally specific curriculum

    pedagogies the Uncharted nature of

    mapping can also overwhelm Educators and

    students through the unscripted choice

    to support Educators interested in

    getting started started with mapping we

    provide a process modeled after the

    lessons we learned from our own

    experiences engaging in learner-centered

    dialogue while working with students

    kindergarten through doctoral however we

    want to emphasize that this approach is

    but one of many potential paths section

    mapping territories might Begin by

    establishing a domain that Learners will

    begin exploring as part of their

    learning experience in the vignette

    above students started the semester

    creating video games a computer science

    education is host to many possibilities

    visual art robotics generative Music

    Creation and performance and many others

    these domains or territories serve to

    situate Learners within a field of known

    and unknown ideas and skills similar to

    the artificial borders drawn on a map

    these domains often impose disciplinary

    conventions and contrived boundaries

    that students will soon begin to

    dismantle after choosing a domain the

    next step is to map a landmarks situated

    within the territory these are the

    projects that students identified in the

    vignette these landmarks are Concepts

    and practices worth knowing skills worth

    developing and interesting places in the

    domain that a learner might use to set

    the compass toward and seek to come to

    know or create in addition to using the

    landmarks to guide the individualized

    learning Learners might also use

    landmarks to identify their prior

    knowledge taking stock of any locations

    they have already visited after

    identifying landmarks Learners and

    Educators begin blazing Trails between

    the locations they already know and the

    landmarks they wish to pursue they

    identify missing skills and knowledge

    they need to reach a landmark and

    co-create learning experiences with

    peers and Educators to help themselves

    acquire these skills by finding

    resources analyzing examples seeking out

    experts and following Trails left by

    other Learners peers and educators are

    valuable resources here they are able to

    help Learners identify missing skills

    and knowledge through dialogue or

    assessment and can design or recommend

    learning experiences to help the student

    develop these skills as they pursue

    their goals at the close of a project

    Learners and teachers reflect on their

    learning experience senses by mapping

    their learning writing down how they

    went about pursuing their Landmark such

    that a future traveler might retrace

    their path or build on it as they pursue

    related goals finally Learners compare

    their journey in relation to Prior

    projects and understandings then set new

    goals for the next project in the

    vignette above the class created the map

    collaboratively on a bulletin board Maps

    can take many physical or digital forms

    but what they have in common is they

    render a particular learning experience

    as a path from one position in a

    territory to another a trail across the

    domain Learners as maps are particularly

    useful when they show many trails

    together Learners will find that some

    locations reappear across different

    projects While others are more remote

    when Educators map curriculum through

    continuous dialogue with Learners rather

    than for them they Embrace a deeply

    responsive pedagogy that positions

    Learners as designers of their

    educational experiences Learners

    self-determine maps are inherently

    self-differentiated they are designed

    around that individual's goals needs

    background desires strengths and

    weaknesses mapping systemically centers

    Learners as voices and positions the

    educator as a supportive expert who

    provides context and mentorship the

    curricula that emerge out of

    cartographical pedagogies the trails

    that people generate as they learn are

    both reflections of past learning and

    tools to scaffold future learning they

    represent one person's path toward one

    person's goals but they also provide

    material that other paths might grow

    upon Section 3 retracing Trails Irvine

    describes a tendency for researchers to

    treat teachers and students quote as

    mere objects of their gaze unquote

    through a one-way description of

    participants without quote inviting

    anyone from the community to speak up

    and back to the researchers

    interpretations end quote similarly and

    despite their positive intentions

    Educators risk implementing

    equity-centered approaches in ways that

    essentialize or reduce students

    educational needs or preferences to a

    single caricature of a culture or

    identity in contrast when teachers in

    invite students to participate in the

    design of their learning experiences

    through dialogue a la frieri they create

    opportunities for students to express

    and explore their unique set of

    identities and experiences in all of

    their many nuances the cartographical

    approaches to teaching and learning

    described in this paper are informed by

    quote rhizomatic learning end quote a

    teaching and learning theory based on De

    Luz and guatrese a thousand plateaus

    which Embraces situated teaching and

    learning and rejects the practice of

    establishing stayed fields and static

    disciplinary boundaries teachers and

    students engage in razzmatic learning

    Trace new and established paths through

    computer science in continual dialogue

    with one another developing skills and

    knowledge situated by their individual

    goals needs and desires rhizomatic

    learning offers a conception of Cs that

    is quote constructed and negotiated in

    real time by the contributions of those

    engaged in the learning process unquote

    a field constructed socially through

    dialogue rather than one imposed upon

    Learners by educational institutions we

    argue that mapping as described above

    expresses a rhizomatic pedagogy a set of

    practices that facilitate cultivate or

    produce rhizomatic learning and teaching

    rhizomatic pedagogy involves dismantling

    hierarchies among Educators and Learners

    creating space for collaboration among

    everyone in the learning space and

    following the interests desires and

    goals of Learners toward creating

    personalized learning sequences that

    value students agency and their Journeys

    as Learners rhizomatic pedagogy involves

    centering Learners agency throughout the

    educational process while at the same

    time scaffolding their engagement to

    ensure they are successful in making use

    of their agency by engaging rhizomatic

    pedagogies teachers and Learners engage

    in a free air in dialogue where the

    teacher constructs knowledge in

    collaboration with Learners rather than

    paternalistically tracing paths for them

    rhizomatic pedagogy offers teachers and

    Learners a powerful framework for

    implementing responsive localized

    participatory learning experiences

    rather than using curricula as a tool

    for casting learning experiences in a

    mold a rep applicating those experiences

    across social cultural and

    intersectional contexts Prismatic

    learning practices are resonant with

    many well-established equity-centered

    pedagogical approaches we do not intend

    to position mapping or rhizomatic

    pedagogy as a replacement for the

    important work of other Scholars and

    Educators addressing systemic oppression

    and inequity in education rather we

    position mapping as an additional lens

    to apply alongside other Frameworks for

    fostering Equity one that establishes a

    set of strategies for engaging Learners

    in dialogue around their experiences

    empowering Learners to participate in

    the co-construction of their educational

    spaces and building curricula that

    Express hyperlocal deeply situated

    learner-centered teaching and learning

    practices we argue that co-constructing

    learning experiences built around

    Learners goals interests and desires

    offers Educators powerful strategies for

    providing individually responsive and

    relevant CS education experiences

    particularly for Learners whose

    intersecting identities goals interests

    desires or experiences are marginalized

    cartographical pedagogies offer many

    questions and challenges for computer

    science Educators to address in future

    work many computer science curriculum

    providers teacher education programs and

    computer science education researchers

    offer generalized teaching and learning

    resources designed for many classrooms

    across many contexts while these

    resources may offer powerful capacity

    building tools for novice computer

    science Educators they fail to help

    teachers build skills and dispositions

    that create space for Learners to

    participate in the design of their

    educational experiences as we reflect on

    the role of rhizomatic learning and

    computer science education we ask what

    might curricula that encourage

    cartographical teaching and learning

    practices include and what do they

    exclude what skills should professional

    development providers model and teach to

    help teachers feel empowered to Center

    their students goals needs and Desires

    in their classrooms what new curricular

    and pedagogical approaches might

    students and teachers develop through

    continuous dialogue with each other as

    they Embrace their hyper-situated

    contexts experiences cultures and

    identities we also find the

    practicalities of responsive quote

    cartographic pedagogies to be

    understudied in CS education example

    what tensions do CS Educators encounter

    as they Foster rhizomatic learning

    within formal education systems what

    reflective approaches do successful CS

    Educators employ to evaluate their

    rhizomatic pedagogies what tensions

    might CS Educators face when

    facilitating razzmatic learning quote at

    scale for large numbers of students many

    of the questions we have posed in this

    paper are difficult to address within

    formalized education systems especially

    those driven by neoliberal economics

    which privileged tech industry profit or

    the situated needs of Educators and

    Learners rhizomatic learning calls

    Educators to radically embrace Learners

    goals needs interests and desires by

    creating new fields of inquiry at the

    intersections of their experiences new

    interdisciplines between Learners the

    educator and the Cs education Community

    we hope that by embracing the difficult

    and ambiguous challenges associated with

    practicing rhizomatic teaching and

    learning computer science teachers

    Learners and researchers might continue

    to broaden the field by creating space

    for more diverse teaching and learning

    practice is situated by Learners

    intersectional identities and that

    concludes the reading of the paper

    itself so normally I like to ask some

    lingering questions and thoughts but

    because John and I collaborated on this

    I don't really have any questions for

    myself or for John but a question that I

    have for you is what other metaphors do

    you use to describe epistemologies in

    education that resonate with you and the

    kids that you work with if you'd like to

    share some of those by being a guest on

    the show there is a contact me button on

    my website at jaredolary.com as well as

    over 100 episodes of podcasts that are

    either solo episodes or some interviews

    with some awesome people like John so if

    you're interested in hearing some more

    about curriculum Equity interest driven

    learning intersectionality Prismatic

    learning culturally relevant pedagogy

    and curricula Etc check out the links in

    the show notes at charity leary.com and

    stay tuned next week for another episode

    and until then I hope you're all staying

    safe and are having a wonderful week

Article

Stapleton, J. & O’Leary, J. (2022). Fostering intersectional identities through rhizomatic learning. 2022 Conference on Research in Equitable and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT), 90-93.


Abstract

“Many scholars have produced powerful equity-centered curricular and pedagogical approaches relevant to CS educators. However, well-intentioned educators and curriculum providers who intend to use culturally relevant approaches may mistakenly apply these frameworks and unintentionally enact what we refer to as “culturally specific” approaches to education. Such approaches fail to account for students’ multifaceted experiences of culture and identity in the design of their learning experiences, ignoring their specific needs, goals, and desires for their learning. Rather than delivering content for groups of culturally specific identities, this position paper describes a “cartographical” curricular and pedagogical approach informed by a rhizomatic philosophy of learning that fosters dialogue among students as individuals with unique identities, interests, and needs that teachers and students explore together through computer science education. We position rhizomatic pedagogy as an additional lens to apply alongside other frameworks for fostering equity—one that establishes a set of strategies for engaging students in dialogue around their learning experiences, empowering learners to participate in the co-construction of their educational spaces, and building curricula that express hyper-local, deeply situated, student-centered teaching and learning practices.”


Author Keywords

Individualized learning, rhizomatic learning, curriculum mapping


My One Sentence Summary

This paper uses mapping as a metaphor for individualized learning.


Some Of My Lingering Questions/Thoughts

  • What other metaphors do you use to describe epistemologies in education that resonate with you and the kids you work with?


Resources/Links Relevant to This Episode



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