Exploring the Context of Professional Development on Disciplinary Writing Instruction

• In Event: Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: Disciplinary Literacy Across Teacher Education Contexts

Abstract

This is a qualitative study of a professional development program called the “Writing Collaborative” aimed to support teachers across the content areas to teach disciplinary writing. I study the context of the professional development and follow four focal teachers into their classrooms, tracing the development of their writing instruction beginning with their professional development experiences and concluding with their enactment of writing instruction. Findings indicate that were missed opportunities to discuss the key elements of teaching writing in each of the disciplines. Consequently, the professional development gravitated toward generic approaches to writing instruction. The study calls for further examination of the social structures at play within professional development models that rely on shared responsibility amongst participants.

Author

• Michelle Nguyen Kwok, University of Michigan