Discourses of Computing Competence, Evaluation and Gender: The Ease of Computer Use in the Primary Classroom

Abstract

The social construction of computing as an institutionalised practice in Australian primary schools provides a particularly significant case study for testing Bernstein's theory of the structure of pedagogic discourse. During the decade of the eighties, the use of computers in schools became an integral feature of policy documents geared to restructuring education in accord with industrial restructuring1 Discourses of gender equity in science, mathematics and technology were also key components of official educational policies2 At the same time, computers were introduced into Australian primary classrooms, and discourses about the use of the computer became institutionalised at the level of practice. Taking these points into consideration, educational computing provides a valuable focus for testing Bernstein's theory of how educational discourses are produced, transmitted and realised at the level of pedagogic practice.