Primary Programming: Teachers’ Attitudes and Skills in the Light of Computing Reform

Two global trends that can be observed in computing education all over the world are moving the beginning of teaching computing as a compulsory school subject to primary education and moving from the teaching of user approaches to digital technologies to computer science content. The Czech Republic is currently the scene of such changes within the ongoing reform of informatics education. This paper presents the visions and principles that have served as the foundational framework for the reform initiative. A significant term for the introduction of computing in schools is programming. The key figure for the implementation of the changes is the primary school teacher who has no background in computer science and no experience in the subject as a student. The topic of our inquiry is therefore the attitudes of primary teachers towards teaching programming at the time of the ongoing school reform. The aim of the research is to identify the personal, pedagogical and environmental factors that influence teachers’ attitudes towards teaching programming. We measured programming attitudes using Sun’s Teacher Programming Attitude Scale, while the relationship of these attitudes to teachers’ computational thinking was explored using Bebras Challenge tasks. A survey of primary school teachers revealed a positive attitude towards the teaching of programming, coupled with very good computing skills. The study also found that previous experience in teaching programming is a significant factor in influencing teachers’ positive attitudes towards the subject.