Narrative as writing and literacy pedagogy for preservice elementary teachers : giving children and teachers a voice / Nancy A. Wasser.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wasser, Nancy A., author.

Series:

Anti-colonial Educational Perspectives for Transformative Change ; 11.

Anti-colonial Educational Perspectives for Transformative Change ; 11

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Creative writing (Elementary education)--United States.

Creative writing (Elementary education).

Literacy--Study and teaching (Elementary)--United States.

Literacy.

Elementary school teachers--Training of--United States.

Elementary school teachers.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2021]

Summary:

"I just cannot write" or "I am not a good writer" are familiar complaints from students in academia. Many of them claim they cannot express themselves clearly in written text, and their lack of this skill impedes them in their academic career. In this book, Nancy A. Wasser argues that teachers can help solve this when they start viewing writing not as secondary to reading, but as the equally important side of the same coin. Those who cannot read, will not be able to write. Wasser explains how teaching and regular practicing of writing skills from an early age onwards helps children grow into students who are self-aware of their voices. By employing narrative as a process of learning to write and a way to read, teachers can teach children the art of writing, while also making children more aware of their own constructions of narrative. Combining the focus on individual and group expression in writing lessons, students can trace and reflect on their own life transformations through their writing process. Good writers are not born that way, but made through effort and practice. Changes in curriculum may not only lead to better-expressed citizens, but also to more balance between teacher and children voices.

Contents:

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 Purpose of This Book as a Conceptual Bridge

PART 1: Critical School Writing as a Place for Transformation

1 Transformative Literacy: Narrative as Retrospective Meaning Making

1 A Word about Definitions

2 Conclusion

2 A Framework for Writing to Transform Our World

1 Through the Lens of Writing - An Historical Journey: A Rationale

2 Transforming Writing from a Secondary to a Primary Discourse

3 Whole Language: Literacy Learning from Whole to Part

4 Personal Narrative as Literacy Pedagogy

5 Pushing back against Current School Writing Policies

3 Teacher Candidates Critical Work and a Critical Discourse Analysis

1 How It Worked: The Documentation

2 How It Worked: My Teacher Research Classroom Methods

3 An Example of a Narrative Lesson in Progress

4 Data Analysis Method

5 CDA Theoretical Tools

6 Conclusion

4 Language and Power: Emergent Themes

1 Theme of Writing for Meaning and Purpose

2 Theme of Building Community through Narrative Writing Pedagogy

3 Theme of Narrative Writing as a Tool for Healing

4 Language and Power; Language Empowers

5 Conclusions

PART 2: Teacher Action Research

5 Teacher Action Research: Schools as Knowledge Democracies

1 TAR as a Research Paradigm

2 TAR as Knowledge Democracy

6 Using Teacher Action Research to Support Narrative as Writing Pedagogy

1 Funds of Knowledge as Fodder for Narrative Writing Pedagogy

2 Pioneering Support for the Methodology

3 Studies Treating Teaching Writing through Teacher Research

4 Research Studies Employing Personal Narrative as a Source of Scholarly Writing

5 Conclusion

PART 3: Teachers as Change Agents

7 Challenging the Practice of Testing and Grades as Proof of Good Teaching and Learning: Challenging Writing as Merely a Skill

1 Why Narrative as Writing Pedagogy?

2 A Critical Discourse Approach to Analyzing the Narratives

3 What Worked Well

4 Preservice Teachers Challenge the Pedagogy: Testing and Grades as Proof of Good Teaching and Learning

5 Preservice Teachers' Thinking about Writing Begins to Change

8 Narrative to Promote "School" Writing while Writing for Meaning and Purpose

1 Incorporating Skill-Based Literacy Instruction and Narrative Genre in Pedagogy Based on Personal Stories: How It Worked

2 Language and Power

3 Conclusion

9 General Discussion and Conclusions: Changing the Dominant Literacy Pedagogy One Story at a Time

1 Open-Ended Planning

2 A Place of Transformation

3 Preservice Teachers Push back against Writing as Primary Literacy Pedagogy: The "What Do We Do about Grades?" Discourse

4 Places of Transformation from "What Do We Do about Grades," to "How Can We Assess Students' Writing along the Road to Learning to Write?"

5 Pushing back against Issues of Language and Power

6 Transformative Actions to Address Issues of Language and Power

7 The Tradition of Teaching/Not Teaching Writing in School

8 A Look at My Teacher Discourse and Discourse

9 In Conclusion

Appendices

Appendix 1: Johnson Elementary Charter School Demographics

Appendix 2: Methods for Teaching Elementary Language

Appendix 3: Reading Log

Appendix 4: Lesson Plan 4-16-2014

Appendix 5: I Know What It's Like...

Appendix 6: I Know What It's Like...

Appendix 7: Class Poem #2

Appendix 8: Class Poem #3

Appendix 9: Questions on Unit 1 Reading, EDUC 453/553 February 12, 2014

Appendix 10: Journal Guidelines

References.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-46851-X

OCLC:

1264175406

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004468511 DOI