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

Other podcast episodes that were mentioned or are relevant to this episode
- Applications of Affinity Space Characteristics in [Computer Science] Education
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- CS Educator as Dungeon Master with Jon Stapleton
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- Educational Aims, Objectives, and Other Aspirations
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- How to Get Started with Computer Science Education
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- micro:bit, Rhizomatic Learning, and CS for Healing with Katie Henry
  - In this interview with Katie Henry, we discuss the micro:bit and the do your :bit challenge, rhizomatic learning, the potential for CS for healing, and much more.
- Rhizomatic Learning with Catherine Bornhorst, Jon Stapleton, and Katie Henry
  - In this panel discussion with Catherine Bornhorst, Jon Stapleton, and Katie Henry, we discuss what rhizomatic learning is and looks like in formalized educational spaces, affordances and constraints of rhizomatic learning, how to support individual students within a group setting, standards and rhizomatic learning, why few people know and use rhizomatic learning approaches, how to advocate for and learn more about rhizomatic learning, and much more.
- Situated Language and Learning with Bryan Brown
  - In this interview Bryan Brown, we discuss the importance of language in education. In particular, we discuss the role of language in teaching and learning, discursive identity, situated language and learning, the importance of representation in education, the role of language on stress, how smartphones and virtual communication platforms (e.g., Zoom) could change learning, and many other topics relevant to CS education and learning.
- The Centrality of Curriculum and the Function of Standards: The Curriculum is a Mind-altering Device
  - In this episode I unpack Eisner’s (2002) publication titled “The centrality of curriculum and the function of standards: The curriculum is a mind-altering device,” which problematizes curricula and standards by discussing how both can deprofessionalize the field of education.
- More episodes related to culturally-relevant pedagogy/curricula
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Find other CS educators and resources by using the #CSK8 hashtag on Twitter