Process Writing in the Classroom: The Reality Lived Out
Finke, Janet A.
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/71957
Description
Title
Process Writing in the Classroom: The Reality Lived Out
Author(s)
Finke, Janet A.
Issue Date
1993
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Bresler, Liora
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Language and Literature
Education, Elementary
Abstract
The major focus for this study is to bring into the realm of educational discourse an understanding of the lived experience of the teacher who uses process writing in her classroom, as well as the lived experience of the child who participates in process writing. Experiences of teachers and children are often overlooked in educational research. The central questions guiding this study are questions of meaning and being. What is it like to be teacher or child in a process writing classroom? How does teacher or child understand this experience? What is the nature of the relationship between teacher and child in process writing?
Two third grade teachers who had incorporated process writing into their classrooms and three children from each of their classrooms participated in this phenomenological study. Observations and conversations were used as modes of inquiry.
From this study, understanding about issues in the teachers experience in was revealed. As they taught process writing, the teachers experienced tension between the professional duty of covering curriculum, meeting standards of evaluation, and preparing the students for the next year and the moral obligation of meeting the need of their students through providing opportunities for the children to grow as writers, independent learners, and critical thinkers. Outside the classroom the teachers often experienced criticism from and competition with their colleagues. Inside the classroom they experienced community through building authentic relationships with their students.
The children's experience also reflected tension between the traditional classroom culture and the process writing classroom. They experienced the doing of Writer's Workshop and yet the image of the traditional classroom culture lingered in their words as they related the teachers' control over their writing through telling what to do and change, and influencing what and when they published.
The significance of this phenomenological study rests in bringing to the educational discourse an understanding of the nature of the lived experience of teacher and child in a process writing classroom. It is hoped that this study will lead to a deeper understanding of pedagogical relationships opening up possibilities for thoughtful action.
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