Original article: LINK
Sarah J. McCarthey, Ngan Vu & Jiadi Zhang
This study investigated how children demonstrate agency in writing projects across three elementary classrooms within a single US school. The researchers uncovered significant insights into the relationship between curriculum design and student agency.
The findings illustrate that a writing curriculum that supports choice and the expression of students’ voices enabled them to integrate their funds-of-knowledge, funds-of-identity and out-of-school experiences within their writing [LINK]. This approach facilitated rich, meaningful writing experiences where students could reflect their personal voices and identities.
However, misunderstandings around the science of writing and phonics instruction have impacted writing curricula and student agency. The prevailing trend towards presentational-skills writing instruction has lead to reduced opportunities for student choice and self-expression [LINK and LINK]. This flawed pedagogical approach has constrained students’ ability to engage deeply with their writing and has limited their opportunities for a creative and agency-driven writing apprenticeship.
To counteract these limitations, teachers can (and must) proactively reform their writing curricula and instruction to better support student agency [LINK and LINK]. This includes offering choices in content, process, and product, which can enhance motivation and engagement. As highlighted by the study, allowing students to create their own writing and negotiate their identities within the writing classroom can empower them to become more engaged and adaptive participants in the writing process.
In essence, fostering student agency in writing requires an instructional approach that values and integrates students’ voices, experiences, and perspectives. By doing so, educators can nurture a more dynamic and responsive educational environment that supports students’ development as creative and autonomous writers.
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Key studies and perspectives illustrate how classroom environments and instructional practices can either support or hinder students’ agency. For example, McCarthey’s research shows that students express agency by engaging with or resisting classroom norms, while Hamel’s study emphasises the role of teacher support in fostering a writing classroom where students feel empowered to share and publish their compositions.
The researchers also touch on the role of genre in writing instruction, suggesting that while teaching about text forms can help students understand different text types, overly rigid approaches to genre teaching can stifle creativity and agency. Instead, integrating genre instruction with opportunities for student choice, as seen in the Writing For Pleasure approach and Rylak et al.’s study, can enhance students’ engagement and agency in writing.
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Findings from the research showed how the writing curriculum in different classroom settings shaped students’ writing practices, their interactions with their peers, and how they expressed agency through their writing. The study focused on three different classrooms and examined how students navigated and negotiated their writing experiences.
K/1st grade classroom:
- Writing environment: A dynamic and colourful space where students had multiple opportunities to write, often in a collaborative and fluid manner. The curriculum was open, allowing students choices in topics, genres, and collaboration. This flexibility encouraged creativity, such as combining pictures and text and collaborating with peers [LINK].
- Student agency: Students showed enthusiasm for writing, expressing creativity and independence in their choice of topics and writing styles. Collaboration was encouraged, and students actively engaged in sharing their work with peers, which allowed them to incorporate feedback and ideas into their writing [LINK].
2nd/3rd grade classroom:
- Writing projects: Students worked on personal narrative writing where they could discuss life experiences [LINK]. While genre instruction was crucial, the study suggests allowing students to make choices within genres to maintained children’s engagement and relevance.
- Student agency: The life experiences project allowed students to explore their identities and express themselves creatively. The students’ writing showed a blend of classroom literacy and personal experiences.
4th/5th grade classroom:
- Writing projects: Students engaged in opinion writing [LINK] and a poetry project. While the opinion writing was more structured, the poetry project allowed for greater personal expression and creativity [LINK]. Again, while genre instruction was crucial, the study suggests allowing students to make choices within these taught genres to maintain children’s engagement and relevance.
- Student agency: The poetry project was particularly enjoyed by students as it allowed them to explore their identities and express themselves in a less constrained manner.
Conclusion
This study emphasises the importance of fostering student agency in writing instruction by creating supportive, flexible, and culturally responsive learning environments [LINK]. Teachers should focus on building classroom communities where students are supported to choose their writing topics in an open, friendly, and safe atmosphere. This kind of environment encourages regular peer feedback and interaction, whether in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class. Allowing students to make choices, particularly within the parameters of a specific genre, aligns with best practices and significantly promotes their sense of agency [LINK].
In addition, the research highlights the value of culturally responsive practices in enhancing student engagement and agency in writing. Recognising and valuing students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds can make a meaningful impact on their writing experiences [LINK]. As multilingualism becomes increasingly prevalent, it is important for classrooms to explicitly incorporate and value children’s funds-of-language and writing in multiple languages [LINK]. This approach not only fosters inclusivity but also respects and leverages students’ full linguistic repertoires, enhancing their overall learning experience.
Furthermore, a school’s writing curriculum should connect to students’ lived experiences and real-world contexts [LINK]. This connection allows students to act on their intentions and interests, helping them develop their writerly identities and empowering them to express their creative ideas. Such an approach encourages students to engage deeply with their writing and see its relevance beyond the classroom.
In conclusion, the researchers argue against the use of highly structured writing schemes that limit students’ creative expression. Instead, it advocates for curricula that prioritise student-driven writing projects, enabling students to create extended texts, explore various genres, and write for real audiences [LINK]. The critique of curricula which misunderstands ‘the science of writing‘ highlights the limitations of approaches that focus narrowly on writing responses to reading and provide few opportunities for extended writing. These flawed curriculums are considered detrimental to the development of students’ writerly identities and agency [LINK and LINK].
The study ultimately advocates for open, stimulating writing classrooms that offer students choice and opportunities for critical engagement with texts. Such classrooms can serve as models for others, especially in an era where prescriptive educational mandates are becoming more common. The overall message is a call for instructional practices that prioritise student agency, cultural responsiveness, and real-life relevance in writing education, moving away from rigid, scripted writing schemes towards more inclusive, effective and affecting approaches [LINK].