How Epistemologies Shape The Teaching And Learning Of Argumentative Writing In Two 9th Grade English Language Arts Classrooms

Student and Teacher Writing Motivational Beliefs

The study of students’ motivational beliefs about writing and how such beliefs influence writing has increased since the publication of John Hays’ 1996 model of writing. This model emphasized that writers’ motivational beliefs influence how and what they write. Likewise, increased attention has been devoted in recent years to how teachers’ motivational beliefs about writing, especially their efficacy to teach writing, impact how writing is taught and how students’ progress as writers. As a result, there is a need to bring together, in a Research Topic, studies that examine the role and influence of writing beliefs. Historically, the psychological study of writing has focused on what students’ write or the processes they apply when writing. Equally important, but investigated less often, are studies examining how writing is taught and how teachers’ efforts contribute to students’ writing. What has been less prominent in the psychological study of writing are the underlying motivational beliefs that drive (or inhibit) students’ writing or serve as catalysts for teachers’ actions in the classroom when teaching writing. This Research Topic will bring together studies that examine both students’ and teachers’ motivational beliefs about teaching writing. This will include studies examining the operation of such beliefs, how they develop, cognitive and affective correlates, how writing motivational beliefs can be fostered, and how they are related to students’ writing achievement. By focusing on both students’ and teachers’ beliefs, the Research Topic will provide a more nuanced and broader picture of the role of motivation beliefs in writing and writing instruction. This Research Topic includes papers that address students’ motivational beliefs about writing, teachers’ motivational beliefs about writing or teaching writing. Students’ motivational beliefs about writing include: • beliefs about the value and utility of writing, • writing competence, • attitudes toward writing, • goal orientation, • motives for writing, • identity, • epistemological underpinnings writing, • and attributions for success/failure (as examples). Teacher motivational include these same judgements as well as beliefs about their preparation and their students’ competence and progress as writers (to provide additional examples). This Research Topic is interested in papers that examine how such beliefs operate, develop, are related to other cognitive and affective variables, how they are impacted by instruction, and how they are related to students’ writing performance. Submitted studies can include original research (both quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods), meta-analysis, and reviews of the literature.

How Epistemologies Shape the Teaching and Learning of Argumentative Writing in Two 9th Grade English Language Arts Classrooms

Classrooms are to be supportive environments where students learn writing as a way to participate in activities, discussions, and communities. Writing researchers need to explore the classroom context with a view of writing as a social practice. In 2016, the National Council of Teachers of English announced the position statement that the nature of writing instruction is contextualized and complex in order to support students’ writing and learning about a range of ideas and experiences as well as in a variety of genres. However, previous studies indicate that writing instruction implemented in secondary schools in the United States do not always align with this theoretical and practical perspective. Writing instruction is often designed through teacher experiences and pedagogical knowledge. However, several other influential factors such as teacher's differing epistemologies, individual experiences, and process of socialization shape the instructional designs of writing. To date, little evidence has confirmed the effectiveness of different epistemologies for teaching writing in English language arts classrooms. This study provides a unique perspective of writing instruction to show that although they have the same goal, teachers with different epistemologies orchestrate activities, understand concepts, and respond to student work differently. Using an ethnographic approach, I collected data—audio and video recordings, pre and post-observation interviews, student work, and artifacts—over a period of one academic year, from August 2017 to May 2018, in two ninth-grade English language arts classrooms. I argue that the landscape of teaching and learning argumentative writing can be fundamentally different due to different epistemologies, despite identical teacher training to incorporate the same writing approach. Through the exploration of writing instruction from two teachers with different epistemologies, this dissertation presents a way to build an iterative series of studies in the field of writing research. Identifying the benefits and challenges of teachers’ epistemologies will prove beneficial in expanding our understanding of the complex nature of writing instruction as a reflective practice. This work reveals teachers’ epistemologies for teaching writing, previously marginalized areas of writing research, making their theoretical and pedagogical contributions more accessible. In the process, it reveals teacher epistemology as a key factor in professional development and direction of classroom research, ultimately contributing to debates about the social dimensions associated with teaching and learning of writing. This research provides a rich, complex, and detailed picture of teachers and students within teaching and learning practices. The findings have brought many questions to light that still remain unanswered.

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