Teaching coding isn’t just about jobs. Education is about producing well-rounded people, regardless of what career they go into. Just how we don’t teach poetry expecting all children to become the next T.S. Eliot, teaching coding isn’t about becoming the next Steve Jobs.
Watch "Coding teaches you how to think"
With the micro:bit, children develop their problem solving, critical thinking and collaborative skills, all under the guise of coding. Coding pairs well with the logic building structure of writing music, and it has been known that musicians often make great programmers.
Learning to code is also incredibly empowering: by learning the basics, people can go to become agents of change and innovation, wherever they are in the world.
Girls Who Code is an initiative which offers summer and after-school coding clubs for young girls in the US. The founder, Reshma Suajani, describes how she realised young women are averse to failure, and coding is brilliant for teaching them to take risks.
Watch Teach Girls Bravery, not perfection, Reshma Suajani, TED
Coding requires a process of trial and error to perfect, and something as small as a semi-colon can be the difference between success and failure. Suajani describes how: "what I found is that by teaching them to code I had socialised them to be brave."
Where do libraries come into all this?
Libraries play a vital role in helping people build their confidence in the digital world thanks to access to free Wi-Fi, computers, other technology and helpful staff with IT skills.
At the British Council library you can find everything from books on coding, to coding workshops for children and more. Take a look to our event calendar for upcoming coding classes.
Join the British Council Library today and become part of our digital future!