Has Computational Thinking a Place in the Curriculum?

In the early eighties, Seymour Papert pioneered the use of computers as a tool for children's learning. Papert's programming language LOGO provided children a tool to instruct and control computers and observe the outcomes. Grounded in Papert's thinking, and popularised by Wing in her 2006 article, the term computational thinking defines approaches and concepts needed to interact and control computers and other digital artefacts. Sweden, along with many countries, has responded to political and societal pressure by integrating programming into the compulsory school curriculum. Besides programming, the new curricula also place significant emphasis on digital skills and on enhancing awareness of how the digitalization of society affects us. Sweden has chosen not to introduce a new “programming” subject at schools, and content analysis reveals that there is no explicit mention of computational thinking in the recently revised curriculum. Is computational thinking then not a relevant topic for Swedish schools? We approach the analysis of the Swedish approach through a thematic analysis of literature on the topic identified through a systematic review of research literature in the area. The aim is to investigate how computational thinking is represented and discussed in both the Swedish research literature and as a part of the discourse around the development of the Swedish curriculum. Our analysis of the published literature and school curricula reveals that computational thinking is not well integrated into Sweden’s current educational system. We conclude that the subject Technology should be revised to include a greater focus on creativity regarding computational thinking and construction of computational technological artefacts.QC 20221004