Teacher Candidates Navigating Children’s Agency in Elementary Grade Writing Conferences

• In Event: Teacher Candidates and the Complexities of Agency, Gender, and Resilient Literacies

Abstract

This qualitative study examined how teacher candidates (TCs) navigate the tension between student agency and teacher direction during writing conferences. TCs audio recorded and transcribed conferences during an after school writing workshop with 4th and 5th grade children. Findings indicate that TCs balanced instruction, experienced tension between editing and revision, and experienced tension between familiar and unfamiliar teaching practices as they conducted conferences. The study has implications for preparing TCs to conduct agency-building writing conferences.

Authors

• Vicki McQuitty, Towson University

• Chelsey M Bahlmann Bollinger, JMU

• Pamela Hickey, Towson University

• Danielle Louise DeFauw, University of Michigan - Dearborn

• Lori Czop Assaf, Texas State University