However, on my first day with my students, they were shocked to see a teacher who looked like them. I was an African American female teacher who dressed, talked, and had hair like them.
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Three years ago, I decided to take a position as a science teacher at Warner Girls’ Leadership Academy (WGLA) in Cleveland, Ohio. Because I had a computer science background, I decided to integrate computer science into my science curriculum. WGLA is a school of all African American girls. However, on my first day with my students, they were shocked to see a teacher who looked like them. I was an African American female teacher who dressed, talked, and had hair like them.
To get to know my students, I had them complete a science and computer science survey. Because of their backgrounds, I knew that their skills would be limited. What was shocking to me was that when I asked them what scientists and computer scientists looked like, all of them said White, Chinese, and Japanese men. Not one woman was mentioned. Not one woman of color was mentioned. They did not see themselves in the sciences. For this reason, I had to begin to change the narrative with my students.
When it comes to gaining and sustaining the interests of African American girls in computer science, a conversation needs to take place first that, at times, will make the teacher uncomfortable. The girls asked me what it is like being an African American science and computer science teacher is like. I was also asked how I feel when I am the only woman of color at meetings. They even asked me if people have ever been racist to me when I was at events. The answer was yes, and I explained to them how I dealt with racism in computer science.Second, it is important that African American girls see themselves in every aspect of computer science. They can’t strive to be what they don’t see. Before I began to teach computer science skills, all my students participated in a book study for the book Hidden Figures, and they also watched the movie. It was important for them to see that there were African American women in computer science way before me. Even if some of my students did not have a physical computer, the women of Hidden Figures showed them that they could learn computer science with the computer they were born with, which is their mind.
Once my students saw that history has shown that there were African American women in computer science, I introduced them to African American women who were not just involved in computer science but the STEM family. I utilized a partnership with neighboring colleges and universities requesting African American women in STEM to speak to my girls physically and virtually. Many of them participated in projects with my students and even now serve as mentors. Because the percentage of African American women in STEM is so low, the mentors felt that their job was important to help increase that percentage.
Finally, once my students experience the past and present history of African American women in computer science. I felt that it was important to begin training them as computer scientists of the future. My students have a lot of control in the direction of where they want to go with computer science. All my students are equally unique and creative in different ways, which means that they need to be exposed to different aspects of computer science. It is important to allow African American girls to find their own place in computer science. Computer science looks different for each student. I allowed my students to research different types of computer science programs, and I allowed them to choose the programs that they would like to learn about. A few of them were new to me, so I decided to attend professional development for those programs so I can be better prepared to teach and learn with my students. At any given time, I have students who like using Code.org Discoveries, Wonder Workshop, micro:bit, and Codebot. It’s a great kind of loud in my classroom and I don’t mind that because they are now enjoying and learning that yes, there are African American women in computer science because they are. About the Author
Carla Neely is an award-winning fifth and sixth-grade science and computer science teacher at Warner Girls’ Leadership Academy (WGLA) for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) in Cleveland, OH. She is an advocate for urban education and exposing African American girls to different aspects of science and computer science. Carla is also a Code.org facilitator for the Computer Science Discoveries program and a member of the inaugural 2021 micro:bit Champions Cohort. She trains and speaks at events geared toward helping teachers with best practices for motivating African American girls into the sciences. Carla feels that is important for girls to have the opportunity to use their own creativity and individuality in science and computer science. She is the 2022 Ohio Department of Education District 11 Teacher and one of the four finalists for Ohio’s 2022 Teacher of the Year. Carla is the interim secretary for CSTA-OH and a member of CSTA’s Editorial Board.