“I’m a Writer”: How Writing Experiences Matter When Teachers Assess Writing and Design Instruction

• In Event: Learning to Assess and Respond: Cross-Institutional Partnerships for Writing Teacher Education

Abstract

Purpose: This presentation discusses research conducted in the same context described by Speaker 2. However, the focus is on one preservice teacher, Brandon (pseudonym), who stood in contrast to the others because he also self-identified as a writer. The research questions were:
1. What resources did Brandon draw upon as he assessed the 8th and 9th graders’ writing and designed instruction for these young writers?
2. How did Brandon use these resources, and how did his use of resources compare/contrast with the other members involved in his team’s conversations?

Perspective/Background: Much has been made in recent decades of the need for writing teachers to write. The common argument is that teachers who write can draw from their own writing experiences to relate to their students’ struggles and to anticipate and respond to their learning needs. Thus far, the argument has been made in teaching essays (e.g., Gillespie, 1991; Reid, 2009) and in pedagogy books (Kittle, 2008). While research does suggest that writing can have a transformational effect on teachers’ identities (Whitney, 2008), it is still necessary to build an empirical case for the ways in which teachers’ own writing experiences may serve as significant resources for their writing pedagogy.

Methods and Data: This study reports on a subsequent phase of the research presented by Speaker 2. Upon completion of the inductive coding and analysis (Miles & Huberman, 1994) described for the first phase, the research team continued with this method, focusing focus on the two transcripts for the conversations in which Brandon participated. Coding, within-case and cross-case displays, and analysis focused on how Brandon and the other members of his team’s VoiceThread conversations used their resources. We examined the resources that individuals used as well as the interaction of their resources in shaping the collaborative conversations about assessment and instructional design.

Results: In his conversations with the other preservice teachers on his team, Brandon cited his writing experiences as a resource on multiple occasions; other teachers rarely pointed to writing experiences as a resource. When Brandon did so, he contributed perspectives about assessment and instructional design that were not raised by other team members. Brandon often linked his citation writing experiences to discussion of other resources, thus offering “double reinforcement” for his evaluation of students’ writing and for his suggestions about instructional design. While all of the preservice teachers had many college writing experiences, only Brandon (who self-identified as a writer during the conversations) used his writing experiences as a resource on multiple occasions.

Significance: This research confirms that teachers can use their writing experiences as significant pedagogical resources—both for informing their decisions about assessment and teaching, and as examples to share in their coaching comments on students’ writing. Furthermore, it suggests that preservice teachers who view themselves as writers may be more likely to draw on their past writing experiences as resources for teaching and assessment.

Author

• Leah A. Zuidema, Dordt College