In the above quotation, Ben (a pseudonym) reflects on weeks of work crafting narrative stories. He, along with seventeen classmates, experienced the daily highs and lows that come with authorship throughout the seven-week writing unit, the first of the school year. These daily experiences in the writing workshop shifted students’ perception of themselves. They began to identify as authors who have the capacity to make decisions and take risks in their writing. As their teacher, I knew this transformation was an important step to help students live a writerly life. This understanding is significant to the field of writing education, for when teachers are committed to writers’ voices, student engagement and achievement in writing improves (Graves, 1983). My goal in my classroom and this study was to help my students see themselves as authors. Giving students freedom in the writing classroom empowers them to share their voices.
My passion for developing young authors began when I began trying to lead an authentic writing workshop directed by students, rather than me. By making changes like focusing on the process instead of the product, allowing choices in everything from paper to topics, brainstorming authentic purposes for writing, and trusting students to have control over their storytelling, my writing classroom changed from an environment of coercion and conformity to a workshop of freedom and creativity.
This qualitative study examined how students developed their writing voices and a view of themselves as authors. A student-driven writing workshop, as described above, set the environment for students to develop their identities as authors. Findings from this study indicate that students learned more about the writing process and developed perseverance through daily writing experiences.
To better understand student experiences and provide students with an authentic audience for writing, second graders corresponded with preservice teachers from Dr. Tammi Davis’ Methods of Teaching Communication Arts class in an exercise we called “pen pals.” Dr. Davis is an Assistant Professor at Missouri State University. Her students participated in their own writing workshop in conjunction with the younger students. Studies show that creative writing partnerships such as this one spark “student interest to learn about authors’ experiences, strategies, and writer’s craft” and, as a result, “support writing motivation and development” (Defauw 2018, p. 364) (Gambrell, 2011). Pen pals provide a safe and meaningful audience that supports students (Moore & Ritter, 2007). Pen pals were encouraged to correspond about their goals, progress, successes, and challenges in writing workshop. At the culmination of the study, both groups converged via video conference to participate in a “Writing Celebration.” This authentic opportunity to share the narrative story they were most proud of motivated second graders to persist in their writing endeavors.
The following questions were used to guide this study:
1. How do students develop self-perception as authors?
2. How do students experience sharing their voices in writing workshop?
In the ideal writing workshop, students have the freedom to express themselves by writing with voice. Freedom helps young writers realize their voices are important (Diamond, 2017). However, the literature reports that most students do not enjoy writing. Most writing workshops are teacher-centered, meaning the teacher determines the limits and expectations, and the assignments do not have an authentic audience or purpose (Ring, 2020). As a result, students may not feel empowered or motivated to share their unique voices in writing. In a student-centered writing workshop, students have agency in their writing and have the freedom to share their voices. In the following review of current literature, I explain components of a student-driven writing workshop (Kissell, 2017) and the link between perseverance and the writing process.
There are two important pieces of my philosophy for teaching young writers that I believe classify my classroom as a student-driven writing workshop: autonomy and authenticity. If we expect students to grow as writers, we must first grant them the power adult authors wield. Teachers should value the voices of the authors in their classroom by giving students storytelling choices (Graves, 1984; Fletcher, 2006; Kissell, 2017; Ruben & Moll, 2016). Students deserve to dictate the topics they write about. Spycher et. al (2018) say, “What students write about has to matter to them” (p. 57). Researchers discovered motivation and achievement in writing increase when students write about a topic they are passionate about (Kissell & Miller, 2015; Ruben & Moll, 206; Singer & Shagoury, 2005). Teachers can provide this opportunity by widening the expectations of writing assignments to be inclusive of youth and diverse cultures (Christianakis, 2011). Kids choose the stories they tell, even if teachers don’t like the content of the story (Fletcher, 2006). As an example, Fletcher (2006) reflects on the “blunt message” he sends when he values a girl’s “kind of writing (emotional, poignant, sincere, meaningful) over the kind of writing (plot-driven, violent, low-humor, slapstick) the boys have created” (p. 42). Teachers can center student voices by allowing students to write in their authentic way, rather than the way teachers prefer. Capitalizing on opportunities for autonomy allows students to take more control over their writing and realize their voices are important (Diamond, 2017).
When writers have an authentic audience and purpose for writing, students are more empowered to share their voices (Alexander, 2019; Kissell & Miller, 2015). In fact, Berger et al. (2016) say considering one’s audience is “the force that shapes quality writing” (p. 104). Ring (2020) described how writing with a real audience in mind affected all components of the writing process as her students revised to best communicate their intent. Similarly, Block & Strahan (2019) say teachers must make the “shift from predominantly asking students to write for their teacher to providing opportunities for them to engage in written communication with external audiences” (p. 84). Unlike many elementary writing classrooms (Block & Strachan, 2019; Kissell, 2017), my students found an audience broader than their teacher in their pen pals. When students realize their writing can have an impact, they take that responsibility seriously. Empowering student authors is particularly significant for the diverse student voices who have been historically marginalized in education (Singer & Shagoury, 2005). Christianakis (2011) widened the expectations of a poetry unit to include rap music and found that including different perspectives made literacy learning more meaningful. Writing is a tool to give students liberty and allow them to tell the stories that are important to their lives.
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