Humans of Code Week – Inge De Cleyn, Leading Teacher Belgium

Publication date: July 11, 2022

By Inge De Cleyn, Leading Teacher Belgium

What sparked your interest in coding / Code Week?

I worked with special needs students, and I used computational thinking as a method for training work skills.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to learn / teach coding?

For the people that would like to start to teach coding, I would like to give the advice to properly prepare yourself before you start and use the great existing materials to help you.

What do you like most about Code Week?

What I like most about Code Week is the community feeling. You can feel the connection with like-minded people and the enthusiasm that arises from this.

What challenges have you encountered in your role as ambassador / leading teacher /teacher and how did you overcome them?

The main challenge I encountered as a leading teacher was the fact that we did not have an active group of leading teachers. To solve this, I asked for a meeting with people responsible for education in our country, this way I managed to create a new dynamic group on the topic.

What are the top three reasons why everyone / kids should learn how to code?

Firstly, students need to know how digital systems work to use them fast and properly, this is learned while coding. Secondly, students need to be prepared for the digital society that we will be living in in the future. Lastly, coding is a good method to train students problem solving skills that they can use in several unique occasions.

How can interested people contribute to Code Week?

Everyone can contribute to the Code Week initiative, even by organising a small activity with students. All they have to do is register their activities on the Code Week platform!

Which project/activity related to Code Week are you most proud of, and why?

For several years, during Code Week I organised activities at my school. Teachers could simply ask me to come to their classroom for a coding hour. The good thing about this is that some of the teachers and their students started coding themselves after these activities.

What advice related to coding that you received inspired you most, and why?

Everyone can code, just start small and simple! I organised coding activities with students with severe mental disabilities. These activities had an immense value for their development.