“I think it fits in”: using process drama to promote agentic writing with primary school children

Set against the backdrop of children being ‘alienated’ from their writing, this paper is taken from a United Kingdom Literacy Association sponsored project where primary school teachers were trained to use process drama in order to give children more agency in their writing across the curriculum. Here, we use discourse analysis to think about the children's historical creative writing in relation to the drama lessons which are differently framed by the teachers. Building upon a theoretical model of process drama as involving ‘embodied experience’ and writing as problem‐solving, a case is made that process drama can lead to what we term ‘agentic writing’. Agentic writing, we demonstrate, involves children actively translating their embodied experience of process drama into writing by making a range of intertextual borrowings. These borrowings serve both to capture and transform their embodied experience as the children gain agency by standing outside language to achieve ‘double voicedness’ and in doing so write sophisticated texts. Seeing the relationship between process drama and writing in this light, we argue, provides a means of reconnecting children to the act of writing.     

Weaving new meanings: evaluating children's written responses to a story telling resource package

This paper documents an evaluation of children's written responses to a story telling package used in an intervention project set up by the National Association for the Teaching of English as part of the larger Inspire Rotherham literacy campaign. The brief was to provide a group of primary teachers with innovative and inspirational approaches to raise the aspiration of Key Stage 2 children (age range 7‐9) and to improve their skills in story writing. The schools, who were self‐ selecting, were given a DVD of a professional story teller narrating tales appropriate to the age group, used alongside drama and role play workshops which helped the teachers engage children in aspects of narrative. The children were asked to retell one of their own favourite stories in writing before hearing the DVD stories and then to repeat this activity at the end of the 6‐week project. They were asked to include both pictures and writing. Their texts were analysed to provide both quantitative and textual data. Children were shown to have adopted many features of the language of the oral narratives they had heard in the second task improving both the structure and imagery of the stories they produced.     

Teachers as writers: learning together

This paper reports upon the insights gained through working with teachers as writers at their own level. As part of a two‐year research project into the development of children's voice and verve in writing, a group of fourteen teachers' reflective journeys as writers were documented. Two other groups of teachers and one group of student teachers also took part in writers' workshops across the same period. The data encompassed: questionnaires, observations and teacher commentaries on their own writing, as well as interviews. A number of issues emerged, including: the tension between public and private writing and the security of the writing environment; authenticity in modelling writing; the importance of re‐reading writing at the point of composition; the significance of choice and autonomy in writing and the potency of drama as an ideational and reflective tool. The consequences for classroom practice are also considered. It is argued that in order to enhance the teaching of writing, teachers and student teachers need real opportunities to write at their own level and reflect upon the process.     

Integrating on-line technology into teaching activities to enhance student and teacher learning in a New Zealand primary school

Continuing emphasis given to computer technology resourcing in schools presents potential for web-based initiatives which focus on quality arts teaching and learning, as ways to improve arts outcomes for all students. An arts e-learning collaborative research project between specialist on-line teacher/researchers and generalist primary teachers was designed to investigate student learning, quality teaching, and implementation factors. Constructionist-based teaching activities using on-line technology were designed to engage students in a learner-centred e-learning environment where students and teachers collaborated to produce a media and learning artefact. A case study highlights the outcomes for four students who transferred learnt drama skills to other classroom contexts. This model has potential to provide drama learning for students and professional development for primary generalist teachers, contingent on the availability of rigorously planned and well-resourced programmes.     

‘Back to the future’: the impact of political ideology on the design and implementation of geography in the National Curriculum

ABSTRACT

The use of drama to promote children's engagement with and motivation to study history is now commonplace at sites of historical interest and in many primary and secondary classrooms. Researchers interested in this area have often measured children's engagement and interest through the oral contributions made both during the drama and afterwards in discussion, whereas the written responses of children to their experience of history through drama have not been systematically analysed. OFSTED has recently reported that while they have observed many examples of high standards of oral work in history, the standard of writing at Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 has been disappointing by comparison. This article seeks to provide direction for teachers trying to develop children's historical writing through drama, and shows how drama can be used to promote analytical as well as empathetic responses to historical questions and problems.     

Towards a Pedagogy of Short Story Writing

The article reports on a small‐scale short story writing project. It details the development of the project and shares the emerging findings. The aim of the project was to enhance the quality of students' writing while developing teachers' practice in the teaching of short story writing. The project team comprised the author and four secondary teachers of English. The approach to story writing outlined here was influenced by the example of gaming, where players immerse themselves in a secondary world, confront situations which demand problem‐solving skills, progress through a number of stages, and find satisfaction in completing the game. The project explored the link between talking and thinking and the value given to putting forward tentative ideas, raising questions and solving problems in a collective manner, in a whole‐class teaching situation. The teachers used guided classroom talk to explore each stage in the composition of a story. They challenged students into better ways of thinking or more elaborate forms of explanation. The teachers asked ‘what if’ questions to open up possibilities for the young writers. The teachers also had to judge when best to seize the moment and move the students towards writing. A key issue for the project was to explore the extent to which the structured approach helped to liberate the imagination of the students and improve the quality of their writing.     

The use of exemplars in English writing classrooms: from theory to practice

Recent literature on the use of exemplars in the context of higher education has shown that exemplar-based instruction is implemented in various disciplines; nevertheless, how exemplar-based instruction can be implemented in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing classrooms in higher education institutions remains under-explored. In this connection, this article reports on a textbook development project which adopts an exemplar-based instruction approach to be used by university English instructors to prepare students for IELTS writing (academic module). The goal of the textbook is to cultivate students’ understanding of the assessment standards of the two IELTS writing tasks through the design and use of exemplar-based dialogic and reflective activities. In this article, theoretical underpinnings of the use of exemplars, namely tacit knowledge, assessment as learning and dialogic feedback, will first be discussed in detail. Then, an overview of an ongoing project which aims to develop an exemplar-based IELTS writing textbook will be given. The last section of this article suggests practical strategies for ESL writing teachers who are interested in using exemplars to develop students’ understanding of assessment standards.     

Changes in teachers’ beliefs after a professional development project for teaching writing: two Chinese cases

A plethora of research has found that teachers’ beliefs directly influence their classroom practices and teaching outcomes. While numerous studies in second/foreign language writing have examined the effectiveness of different innovative approaches on students’ learning to write, there is a paucity of research on writing teachers’ beliefs about these approaches and how their beliefs change in the process of their professional development. Such a lacuna becomes prominent in English as a Foreign Language contexts, especially in China, where there are numerous calls for changing the nature of classroom practices from product-focused to process- and student-centred instruction. In order to fill this gap, this brief article reports on a case study regarding changes in two Chinese English teachers’ beliefs after attending a professional development project for teaching writing. A key research question guides this study: What changes, if any, did the two teachers experience in their teaching beliefs during the project? Two writing teachers were voluntarily recruited for a case study. Findings show that the professional development project for teaching writing broadened the teachers’ understanding of different writing theories, provided a clear model of how to integrate these new approaches into regular writing courses, changed their instructional focus and shifted their perception of teachers’ roles in teaching practice.     

Photo-Booklets for English Language Learning: Incorporating Visual Communication into Early Childhood Teacher Preparation

Teachers can integrate discussion and writing about photographs into the early childhood curriculum to build speaking, reading, and writing skills in any language. Although little available research focuses on photography and early childhood education as related specifically to English Language Learners, several current teacher resources do focus on uses of photography in classrooms for young children. What is lacking, however, is substantial reference to the planned use of language along with image creation through photography for the language development of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the early childhood classroom. Teacher training, too, devotes insufficient attention to either visual literacy or visual communication. This article provides a discussion of the role of the visual in English language development as a basis for a sample photography project that can be incorporated into a course for pre-service teachers in methods of teaching ELLs. Pre-service teachers thus experience the project first-hand in terms of image creation and the planning of appropriate content, language, and visual literacy objectives. The resulting visual products then function as teaching resources themselves; however, effective visual learning for ELLs requires that teachers possess such an informed understanding of the techniques that structure and assist language development.     

Developing online problem‐based resources for the professional development of teachers of children with visual impairment

This article presents a summary of the results from phase 1 of a two‐phase research project. Drawing on the principles of problem‐based learning (PBL), the aims of phase 1 were to design, develop and evaluate a set of flexible online teaching resources for use within a virtual learning environment. Participants in the project (n = 10) were volunteers from students registered on a two‐year distance education programme of study for specialist teachers of children with visual impairment. Two case scenarios were developed for the project, each of which was based around a fictitious support service for teachers of children with visual impairment. Following a campus‐based study day, the participants were assigned to one of two ‘PBL Activity Groups’ and completed a series of tasks within each case scenario. Participation in the project was supported by members of the Project Team over a period of one semester, following which participants were asked to provide feedback through an online questionnaire. A summary of the feedback is presented, and key findings discussed. The results suggest that, with appropriate resources, adequate preparatory training and effective tutor support, online PBL can be an effective method for supplementing the continuing professional development of specialist teachers studying through distance education.     

Using web‐based activities to enhance writing in science: The dynamic earth project

Abstract

Content, literacy development, and technology use are being integrated as tools for learning. As part of this process, K‐12 educators and teacher preparation faculty have been trying to come to grips with what preservice teachers should know and be able to do regarding this integration. The university/school partnership in this case study sheds light on how content area standards, literacy, and technology standards can be addressed and taught in a project carried out in cyberspace. This case study investigated how literacy strategies embedded in a Web‐based project enhanced the writing performance of students in a middle school science classroom. After choosing a topic and researching, analyzing, and synthesizing the information, the students wrote essays on the earth's surface. Results of this case study suggest that Web‐based activities did have an effect on students’ performance as they became engaged in a cyber‐context to construct meaning.     

Visual Art as a Vehicle for Educational Research

This article is an account of a pilot project designed to help art & design teachers in training use their particular strengths to report on classroom observation through visual art. The project is underpinned by the notion that the arts provide a particular way of knowing and that teaching should be student‐centred. I argue that if the arts can be seen to be a particular way through which we can understand the world then they can be used as both a pedagogical tool and possibly a vehicle for collecting data and reporting research. A group of 19 student teachers of art & design were given tasks which involved reporting on their school placement experience via a visual art form rather than through a text‐based form such as writing. The resulting images were discussed in a seminar and a sub‐group of three students was purposely selected for interviews. It was found overall, the students valued the approach taken and that they gained valuable insights into their professional placements through adopting an art‐based approach to educational research. As a result, I advocate in this article a greater use of arts‐based approaches to research which explores educational experience, not only in the arts, but in all areas of teaching and learning.     

Impact of the collaboratives for excellence in teacher preparation program

This study investigated the national impact of the Collaboratives for Excellence in Teacher Preparation program (CETP). Impact of the program was examined in two different settings: institutions of higher education, and K–12 science and mathematics classrooms. The focus of this study was to determine the impact of the CETP program on the institutional culture and collaborations among faculty, and changes in instructional techniques used by higher education faculty and K–12 teachers. Data were gathered over a 3‐year period from 12 different CETP projects. At the higher education level faculty reported more collaboration and a slight increase in the use of standard‐based teaching. At the K–12 level, students of teachers who were prepared by the CETP program viewed classroom instruction as slightly more standards‐based than comparable students of non‐CETP prepared teachers. Additionally, external observers rated classes taught by teachers educated in CETP projects as more standards‐based than classes taught by non‐CETP teachers educated in other programs. Implications of the results for national large‐scale reform of science and mathematics education are discussed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1348–1369, 2007     

Strategies for improving the written expression of primary children with poor writing skills

Abstract

This review examines the literature on strategies for improving the written expression of primary aged children with poor writing skills, from a sociocognitive perspective. The specific difficulties such children may experience are examined and research advocating a sociocognitive approach to help remediate their problems is described. Skill in writing depends partly on the author's ability to plan as well as manage the process of composition. Research is reviewed which describes some specific planning strategies such as the story web, the use of drama and drawings, and explicit instruction. Self‐regulation strategies are also described as a means of helping students internalise planning and reflective strategies. There is a clear consensus that teachers should also give specific instruction to children with poor writing skills.     

Jordanian student teachers' perceptions of teaching writing in kindergartens during their field training experience

The purpose of the study was to examine student teachers' perceptions of teaching writing in kindergartens and to identify to what extent the cooperating teachers influence the student teachers' perceptions. To achieve the research aims, a 31‐item questionnaire was developed by the researchers and administered to 50 student teachers and their cooperating teachers. The questionnaire was administrated to both groups as a pre‐test and to student teachers as a post‐test. The results of the study revealed that student teachers were more likely to be emergent literacy‐oriented in their perceptions of teaching writing than they were to the reading readiness philosophy. Furthermore, the influence of the cooperating teachers was insignificant as the student teachers' perceptions of teaching writing developed earlier were more stable and difficult to alter later. In light of these findings the researchers addressed a number of suggestions and recommendations.     

Changing the English language curriculum in Brunei Darussalam

This paper describes the development of a language project in Brunei Darussalam, a project aimed at improving English language learning and fostering positive reading interests. In-service teachers were trained to change from traditional textbook-based techniques to an activity-based approach integrating the practice of aural-oral and writing skills. The major components of project implementation will be discussed to demonstrate the optimization of available resources, particularly available expertise in teacher skill and language competence. This project provides an interesting example of an attempt to satisfy the practical demands of policy-makers while adhering to research standards of evaluation studies.     

Bridge or Barrier? Writing in Secondary Art & Design Education in the UK

What role does writing play in secondary art & design education? In the context of current debates on access and participation in the visual arts, the nature of art discourse and the value of creative subjects within the curriculum, what impact do the existing requirements have on students, teachers and the broader arena of the visual arts? This article presents the findings‐to‐date of an ongoing pilot study which set out to explore these questions. Drawing on interviews with teachers and exam board representatives, and a review of student texts and exam board documents and resources, the study found that even though writing is only a minor part of what is an essentially practice‐based subject, it was a source of significant concern and confusion. A marked disconnect was revealed between intent and practice, which in turn highlighted a series of underlying values and beliefs that seemed to further drive this disconnect. The study calls for a wider discussion of the way writing is framed, used, supported and assessed in the art & design classroom, and the need to ensure that any pedagogy and resources developed align with the values as well as curriculum of art & design. It also previews how strategies created in the context of developing more inclusive and flexible writing skills among curators and other art museum professionals may offer a useful model. The study is part of a larger investigation into the discourse/s of the visual arts, with a focus on issues of access and participation.