Transposition of Computing and Programming Knowledge

This chapter unravels how the teaching of computing and programming is discussed in two Swedish teachers’ journals from the 1970s and 1980s, when programming in school was initiated, explored, and consolidated by different actors. These two decades are of special interest as computer technology evolved significantly during this period, and it became possible to teach programming knowledge in school. The aim of the chapter is to understand how programming knowledge was shaped by experts and early adopters who were involved when computers were first integrated into the Swedish upper secondary school. Articles from the journals are analysed based on Chevallard’s praxeology describing programming knowledge in terms of praxis: how and what to teach, and logos: why to teach specific elements of programming. During these two decades, experimental work was done to offer programming knowledge to a broad group at upper secondary level. The chapter highlights the transposition of programming knowledge when it moves from experts outside school to early adopters within the school subject of mathematics.