Teacher Agency in Reimagining Writing Instruction in the Era of Accountability: The Challenges and Possibilities of Genre-Based Pedagogy

• In Event: Writing Instruction Across Bilingual Education Contexts: Mapping the Landscape and Illuminating Promising Practices

Abstract

In this paper, we report findings from a study that investigated the context of writing instruction in one southwestern public elementary school serving a large population of Latinx Spanish-speaking emergent bilinguals (EBs) through one-way bilingual education. Our objectives were to explore how teachers (1) conceptualize writing development and (2) design and enact writing instruction for EBs. Scholars continue to highlight the limited attention paid to the teaching and learning of writing, in general (Graham, 2019), and for EBs, in particular (Callahan et al., 2010; Enright & Gilliland, 2011; Palmer & Martinez, 2013). Stein et al. (1994) suggest that EBs’ consistently low writing achievement (NAEP, 2012) is a result of insufficient time allocated to teaching writing and instruction that is not responsive to their needs; recent research affirms these findings, further revealing inadequate teacher preparation for teaching EBs to write (e.g., Cutler & Graham, 2008; Gilbert & Graham, 2010; Kiuhara et al., 2009; Panofsky et al, 2005). Addressing how teachers understand writing development and effective instruction for EBs is one important step toward disrupting educational inequities that impact this student population.
This study is grounded in sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978), recognizing that individuals actively construct knowledge through social activities across multiple individual, interpersonal, and institutional planes (Rogoff, 2003). Using this lens to explore teachers’ conceptualizations and enactments of bilingual writing instruction facilitates conjectures about how policy mandates push-in to co-construct constrained practices. We draw upon critical literacy education (Janks, 2000) as a lens for considering the implications for teaching writing in bilingual learning contexts in an era of high-stakes testing. Methods and data sources included teacher focus groups, observations of writing instruction, and video-elicitation interviews (Erickson, 2011) with four upper grade teachers. Data were analyzed using both inductive and deductive coding, including multiple rounds of descriptive and values coding (Saldaña, 2015) to uncover teachers’ conceptualization of effective writing development and instruction for EBs.
Findings revealed teachers’ awareness of the benefit of making cross-linguistic connections for EBs, as well as an understanding of the importance for instruction in both languages. However, teachers desired additional support in designing writing instruction that was appropriate for EBs. Writing instruction included a strong focus on response to literature via text dependent questions, generally aimed to prepare EBs for [English language and reading-focused] standardized testing. Despite the school’s commitment to providing equitable literacy instruction in both languages, the vast majority of writing instruction occurred in English. In sum, we found that teachers had some understanding of the unique strengths and needs of EBs yet sought stronger instructional tools and practices to better support students. Our findings extend existing scholarship on writing for EBs, which has predominantly focused on English writing development in English-only instructional contexts. This work is especially timely given the current educational climate, with rigorous learning standards that emphasize the parity of reading and writing proficiency for all students and with high-stakes testing that drives instruction towards a one-size-fits-all approach to learning (Wills & Haymore Sandholtz, 2009), generally ignoring EBs’ bilingual realities and potential (Gort 2006; 2012).

Authors

• Vanessa Santiago Schwarz, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Laura Hamman-Ortiz, University of Northern Colorado

• Molly Hamm-Rodríguez, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Mileidis Gort, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Mary Beth Snow Balderas, University of Colorado - Boulder