Wicked Renewal: Reframing Problems of Writing Instruction in Secondary Classrooms (Table 3)

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 5:10 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1

Session Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

Given decades of stagnant writing scores (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2021), linear solutions to improving writing achievement based on curriculum fidelity and standardized testing appear ineffective. This approach overlooks the complex reality of classrooms (Graham, et al, 2016), ever-increasing student diversity, and systemic inequities. This symposium offers an overview of the wicked problem framework (Rittel & Webber, 1973), its 10 properties, and classroom examples. Participants will apply this approach to their own contexts. The wicked problem perspective allows for complex framings, encouraging scholars and teachers to approach writing instruction with curiosity and openness. This can lead to renewed practices for all adolescents, addressing multifaceted challenges in contemporary education and potentially improving writing achievement across diverse student populations.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Writing and Literacies

Chair

• Annamary Consalvo, University of Texas - Tyler

Papers

• Wicked Remedies and Wicked Repairs: Micromoments of Teaching Writing in a 12th Grade English Classroom - Annamary Consalvo, University of Texas - Tyler

• Writer’s Notebooks Weave Invisible Threads: Boundary Objects Becoming Institutionally Visible Writing Assessments - Ann D. David, University of the Incarnate Word

• Revision As a Tangled Knot: Seventh-Graders' Capacity, Investment, and Instruction in Re-Seeing Their Own Work - Denise N. Morgan, Western Carolina University; Jessica Hrubik, Champion Local Schools

• Policy as a Wicked Problem: Teachers’ Instructional Practices That Reframe High-Stakes Writing Assessments - Joelle Pedersen, Boston College

• No Stopping Rule for Writing Instruction: Thirty Years of Positioning Student Writers as Decision-Makers - Valerie Taylor, University of Texas at Austin