Hackers' perceptions about the experience of their culture in schools

Abstract

Based on the understanding that we live in societies where possibilities and oppressions are, in some way, related to technological dynamics, and aware of the need for educational processes to put these dynamics in perspective, in this article we turn our gaze to hackers and their perception of experiencing elements of their culture in schools. The main goal of this work is to understand which aspects of hacker culture, according to hackers from different movements and countries, can be part of the school environment. A mixed questionnaire, created for a more comprehensive research about hacker education and empowerment, was distributed in several email lists to communities from different movements and countries. In this article, led by the proposed goal, we focus on the analysis of a single open-ended item from this questionnaire:  According to your experience, which characteristics of the hacker culture could be brought to the schools or universities? The answers of 64 hackers were analyzed. By constructing a word cloud, we highlighted the most recurring terms and then revisited each of these answers in an attempt to deepen their meanings and relationships, building dialogue with a theoretical framework about hacker education and critical pedagogy. The results highlight five aspects: 1) a logic of open sharing, 2) a community ecosystem of collaboration, 3) a practical learning approach, valuing fails, 4) the promotion of free technologies allied to the problematization of social and human implications of technologies, and 5) the respect and valorization of curiosity and critical thinking.