CT for equity: situating computational thinking, computer science, and social justice in a math and science teacher education program

Teacher preparation programs currently struggle to (a) address the challenges preparing students to use computing principles, and (b) do so in ways that apply a critical lens toward societal inequities. In this paper, we describe our (1) integrated STEM and computational thinking (CT) teacher preparation program; (2) response to barriers educators face in preparing students to critically use computing principles; and (3) examples of the pedagogical practices teacher candidates developed through the program. We contribute an approach to preparing and empowering educators to support students understanding and use of CT as a lens for advocating for social justice in their lives.