Beyond Oneself: Investigating Innovative Practices in an Argument Writing Project Across Rural Secondary Classrooms

• In Event: Innovative Approaches to Supporting Literacy Across Contexts: Reconfiguring Relationships Among Readers, Writers, Teachers, and Texts

Abstract

Rationale/Objective
Context, community, and culture are essential factors in educational research, particularly when related to literacy (Gee, 2004; Prior, 2006). But much of educational research is focused on urban education (Strange, Johnson, Showalter, & Klein, 2012). While this context, and its related strengths and challenges, are worthy of such focus, insufficient attention is given to the unique and varied rural contexts across the US (Kannapel & DeYoung, 1999). This presentation highlights an exploratory study of a collaborative argumentative writing project developed by three teachers in isolated, rural secondary schools in the US Pacific Northwest. The study illustrates how the teachers’ enactment of professional capital (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012) through participation in a rural network promoted innovative writing practices for students’ developing argument writing.

Theoretical Framework
Professional capital (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012) emphasizes the importance of teachers’ ability to connect and build their own capacity for change via social capital and professional collaboration. This theoretical foundation informs the innovative teacher collaboration which led to the creation of the argument writing project. But this framing also translated to teachers’ desire to create a platform by which their students could communicate across schools, as well as find a purposeful means to connect to their local rural communities. This desire for connectedness and relationship-building throughout the writing project at the teacher, student, and audience levels reflect the inherently social nature of language and writing.

Data and Method
This study utilized qualitative methods to examine the argument writing project, created collaboratively by teachers in a rural school network, in three secondary English classrooms in the US Pacific Northwest. Students adopted a stance toward 1:1 technology implementation in their schools and wrote an argument to convince a designated school or community audience of their position. Data were collected from teacher interviews, analysis of student argument writing, instructional artifacts, and digital, online artifacts, including collaborations between both students and teachers.

Results/Significance
The study found that innovative uses of authentic audience were incorporated into the study to encourage students to engage in “dialectical thinking” (Hays, Brandt, & Chantry, 1988, p. 414). This thinking encouraged deeper consideration of authentic audience perspectives to inform the structure, content, and language features of students’ argument writing. Additionally, using digital platforms to connect students online to engage in peer feedback resulted in greater attention to argument and language features, as well as more and higher quality student revisions. Teachers expressed that both they and their students experienced greater engagement and motivation because of their ability to collaborate through this project. This study serves as a model for future investigation of innovative teaching practices in rural contexts, particularly those that recognize the assets of rural communities or connect students and teachers across isolated locales. Further, it suggests preliminary benefits of attention to authentic audience and language in argument writing, with the understanding that future research is needed to better understand how these factors can enhance writing instruction across diverse contexts.

Author

• Michael T. O'Connor, Boston College