Becoming a Songwriter: How Out-of-School Literacy Learning Can Inform Formal Literacy Instruction

• In Event: Roundtable Session 26
  In Roundtable Session: Literacy Practices and New Technologies in and out of School

Abstract

This qualitative case study of two youth songwriters examines how literacy learning happens outside of school. Data was collected through participant interviews, artifacts, and teacher interviews. Data analysis, which employed grounded theory and constant comparative methodology, revealed that songwriter participants selectively used tools, collaboration, and audience in order to grow as songwriters, and this learning occurred within various social contexts. An important implication of this study is that formal literacy instruction may work at cross-purposes with students’ out-of-school literacy learning preferences. Future studies should focus on how literacy learning happens outside of school when it is up to learners to determine how they will learn. With this knowledge, schools can design programs that better match students’ preferred ways of learning.

Author

• Wendy R. Williams, Arizona State University