CSTA Equity Fellow Deb Harding’s journey into the computer science field began as a high school math teacher in the late 80s where in addition to teaching mathematics, she taught a course in Pascal and helped launch the district’s initial network, facilitated professional development for teachers learning how to use computers in the classroom, and developed self-paced interactive Trig units.
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CSTA Equity Fellow Deb Harding’s journey into the computer science field began as a high school math teacher in the late 80s where in addition to teaching mathematics, she taught a course in Pascal and helped launch the district’s initial network, facilitated professional development for teachers learning how to use computers in the classroom, and developed self-paced interactive Trig units.
Those experiences led to her recruitment for a specialized training program to become a software developer as the industry was preparing for Y2K. Now trained as a software developer, Harding had the opportunity to switch to the business side of the computer science field. During these years she acquired the skills, expertise, and knowledge base needed to be successful in the business world. While working on her last project in the tech industry, she was the only female on a team of 50 contractors. The lack of diversity in the field influenced her decision to return to teaching to inspire students to consider CS as a career choice.
“My passion is in education, so I returned to teaching to see if I could help change the make-up of the CS industry,” said Harding. “I wasn’t sure how to do that so I just started researching.”
Harding felt the greatest impact she could make would be to teach at the middle school level. She was specifically drawn to a Title I school where she could work with students from multiple minoritized backgrounds and help them see the possibilities of a computer science career. It is Harding’s belief that if we need to reach marginalized students in those early years, overcoming the opportunity gap is significantly more challenging.
Upon returning to the classroom, Harding advocated that every 6-8 grade student she taught at Stem Launch K-8 School in the Adams 12 School District in Thorton, Colorado, should be exposed to CS every year. Her advocacy led to the school expanding the CS middle school requirement for all students from a quarter course to a semester course.
Harding developed a “problem-based learning approach to CS grounded in social justice and provided connections to Latinx and women professionals.” She also partnered with organizations so students have the opportunity to solve real-world problems. One problem emerged in March 2020 related to equity and access to STEM resources during COVID. Over the summer she began partnering with Precious Child and Twilio to create a curriculum unit to solve the problem of kids needing remote STEM resources during COVID. Last year students worked on the digital divide where they problem-solved how to help our community bridge the gap. In another PBL with Level 3, students explored how gaming can teach others about Cybersecurity.
For Harding, the work her students were able to do through these partnerships is at the heart of her definition of equity.
“Equity in education for me is where I commit to constantly research, collaborate, reflect and improve my practices to provide an inclusive, culturally sustaining educational environment where the diverse students we teach have access to learning experiences they need,” said Harding. “It means using my voice to question curriculum and advocate when access is not equitable. For example, fighting to have Unity approved for my students, since they do not have access to Unity classes outside of the classroom, use computers, not Chromebooks to learn CS, providing quality devices and Internet access along with supports to families that do not have it, make technology tools available at home to explore, and advocating for use of YouTube videos so that students can use closed captioning.”
Many of Harding’s students did not have access to computers or quality devices – and the internet – at home. She took this into consideration when defining success. “I measure success by students wanting to explore more; taking home equipment, opting for 2 semesters of CS, staying after school to work, creating CS apps to help their community, going into CS path in HS, and unleashing the confidence in CS for our marginalized students.” She recognized the importance of connecting with families to help develop their confidence and skills with tech tools and learn alongside their children. She had a vision of creating a Family MakerSpace where she could work with students and families seeking solutions to bridging the digital divide. To make her dream a reality, she sought funding to obtain the tools and create the experiences for students and families.
“We were awarded a $15,000 grant by Colorado Succeeds to help launch the Family MakerSpace,” Harding shared. “The following year, Amazon came across the Family MakerSpace website and invited us to tour their new plant, surprising us with a $25,000 check. These monies have been utilized to buy computers, Raspberry Pi, Arduinos, MakeyMakey, and accessories so students have free or low-cost access to explore at home or in school. In addition to the funding, Westerra Credit Union donated laptops and desktops, MindSpark donated Chromebooks and Cardinal Peak donated laptops. Students learned how to fix them and install a Linux operating system so they could provide them to families that needed devices which include themselves.”
Despite the advancements in CS that Harding has achieved for her students, she often feels alone and wonders if she’s approaching this work in the best way. This led her to apply to become a CSTA Equity Fellow.
“I feel like I am fighting alone for students that are in a marginalized group to have equitable access to CS and technology,” Harding said. “I want to learn with leaders doing the work so I can improve myself to provide more access to all students. I want to grow myself with a collaborative group to see how we can affect change not only in our own classrooms but at a greater level.”
In January 2021, a unique opportunity arose for Harding to become a full-time instructor in the Engineering and Applied Sciences program at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS). While she was sad to leave the middle school classroom, she now has the opportunity to partner more broadly with schools and districts continuing her advocacy work encouraging underrepresented students to see career possibilities in CS. She has already connected with leadership at UCCS to partner on CS equity initiatives in surrounding K-12 schools, many in rural areas.
Harding is part of a team of CSTA Equity Fellows who has developed the first-ever CSTA Equity in Action Summit, set for March 6, 2021. Along with Dominick Sanders and Lilibeth Mora, Harding has put together an incredible program to bring together K-12 CS teachers for a call to action to transform our approach to providing equitable CS education rooted in justice.
“It is important to include an anti-bias framework to create CS learning opportunities so students can explore their identities, how they affect the way we interact with the world and how the world interacts with us,” said Harding. “The learning plan should allow for students to analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice and have the opportunity to use CS to help provide solutions.”
You can learn more about Harding, this year’s cohort, and the CSTA Equity Fellowship program here.
