Most of us look at advocacy from a larger perspective. We think of it in terms of Districts, States, National, etc and we sometimes forget it is the little things that matter most sometimes.
Currently I am enrolled in a graduate course and the other teachers in my course questioned me when I mentioned that technology and computer science are not the same thing. I had the opportunity on a discussion board to explain the difference between the two. I also have had the opportunity to make mention about CS education through some of the assignments. I didn’t think of this as advocacy at first but then I began to think about the 32 teachers and their circle of influences. What if one of them was able to articulate the difference in her/his own school district? What if they began to think more about computer science and made a reference to it in their school? What if they just asked someone why they don’t have computer science courses?
We have recently had spirit week at our high school. One of the days was dress like a super hero day. I have made a joke in my programming course for a couple of years now that when we work with Greenfoot we “Save the World”. This is because there is an option to “save the world” once you have your objects placed in it. So on super hero day myself and the other CS teacher wore our Greenfoot shirts. Our motto was “we save the world one program at a time”. What happened is that we were able to tell other students not in our classes why we were wearing those shirts as super heroes. We also shared with some staff members about cs. While we received quite a few laughs we did get several – “that’s cool” comments. On an average school day we made a statement about computer science to other students and staff. Who knows, maybe we will get a few more students in our classes.
So these two things may be simple or silly but they both told people something about computer science. Also, both showed that I am completely sold on computer science education and am willing to tell anyone or interject it into any situation.
So if you inclined to worry about all the “big” advocacy items, find a way to just advocate in your own circle of influence and see where that leads.
Maybe we can all “save the world one program at a time”.
Stephanie Hoeppner
Ohio Cohort Leader