An International Community of Practice Through ScratchJr: The Coding as Another Language Curriculum Around the World

The Coding as Another LanguageCoding as Another Language (CAL)—ScratchJr (CAL-ScratchJrScratchJr) International Community of PracticeCommunity of Practice, formed through the CAL-ScratchJr Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Scratch EducationEducation Collaborative, is comprised of 21 teams in 12 countries across the globe. Through the shared interest of ScratchJrScratchJr organizations, they had the opportunity to engage with the DevTech Research GroupDevTech Research Group, the Scratch Foundation, and each other throughout their first year to ideate on how to bring coding educationEducation to their local settings. Together, organizations explored DevTech’s Coding as Another LanguageCoding as Another Language (CAL) pedagogyPedagogy and the Positive Technological Development (PTD)Positive Technological Development (PTD) theoretical framework, working to understand it, adapt it, and implement these ideas in their local contexts across the globe. Throughout the experience, organizations put the theory into practice by exercising all the behaviors identified in the PTDPositive Technological Development (PTD) framework through their own work within the group, and as a result, evolved beyond a special interest group into an international community of practiceCommunity of Practice. Additionally, it was found that members of the international community of practiceCommunity of Practice shared many common motivations for joining the initiative and positive views of the experience’s impact on the organization and their local communities.