Abstract:

The discourses that we create around our present will shape our future. This is particularly true in education where today's students are being equipped to handle and forge the society of tomorrow. One widespread trend sweeping school curricula all over the world is the idea that children and young adults should learn the fundamentals of programming. Increasing efforts are being devoted to this endeavour reaching schools with varying results. Along with these changes in policies and practices, the field of programming education has received growing attention from other stakeholders, not least researchers. The visions and assumptions of those who study and develop this phenomenon are likely to impact its outcome. The purpose of the review is therefore to explore the perceived significance of programming in future society, through the lenses of how researchers frame its introduction in schools. The study was carried out as a literature review surveying open-source journal papers that reported on initiatives related to programming in education in the last five years. The material was collected in a three-step process, including database search, screening, and selection. The search rendered 1089 potentially relevant research papers. Further screening shortened the list to 26 articles featuring 91 individual researchers from 15 different countries. The selected papers were analysed with content analysis to identify codes pertinent to research question, which were later grouped in categories for presentation in this study.

Results show that mainly positive outcomes are anticipated as a consequence of introducing programming in education. The benefits include filling the needs of a future labour market and preparing students for active participation in an increasingly digitalised society. There were also papers emphasising how learning programming could bring improvements in problem-solving and analytical thinking but also provide space for self-expression and creativeness. Programming in education was believed to enhance social interactions and teamwork skills and to boost motivation and intersectional engagement. However, more critical notions regarding the introduction of programming in education were largely absent, which should be addressed in future research. While programming was seen as a way to raise awareness of the risks associated with a digital society, few authors broadened the discussion to include other less beneficial aspects of programming literacy. Researchers' perceptions in the context of programming in education are compared to previous research on 21st century skills. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the expectations that guide contemporary research and should be of interest not only to the research community but also to teachers and policymakers, in an attempt to spark a discussion that will yield more nuanced implementation of this and future educational initiatives.

Keywords:

Programming, K-12 education, Future society, Researcher perceptions, Literature review.