21st Century Bunkum: What do we value about kids learning to code, and why?
David O’Neill · 2016
The commitment to teaching 21 st century skills has become one of today’s least-questionable educational dogma; and a movement to teach computer programming to every child is taking root in the mandated curricula of an increasing number of provinces and states, if not yet in the culture at large. This is therefore an important moment to examine the arguments and assumptions behind the current “kid coding” craze, which is heavily supported by the computing industry. Why do so many teachers and academics believe in 21 st century skills being teachable, and what in particular does research show about what children learn through computer programming? What do parents and educators value about the skill of computer programming in particular? Why should we teach it to ever child, and what would be necessary to make this happen?