Exploring the Self-Efficacy Beliefs of a Writing Teacher Through the Practice of Student-Centered, Asset-Based Pedagogies PDF Download

Author: Erin Tinti
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Teachers, specifically early career teachers, report that they do not have high selfefficacybeliefs when it comes to teaching writing to adolescent students in the classroom. Previous studies show that early career teachers of writing report not having much in the way of formal education on how to teach writing during their pre-service teacher education courses, therefore leaving them with limited concept knowledge for how to teach writing during their first years in the classroom. Most early career teachers default to a productfocused, teacher-centered approach to teaching writing, one that focuses on the form and function of the writing being produced and where the teacher is the authority on what constitutes good writing in the writing classroom. This approach, however, does not show any reported improvements of self-efficacy for teaching writing by early career writing teachers. This study sought to find whether utilizing a student-centered, asset-based approach to teaching writing, one that decenters the teacher and focuses on the process over the product, leveraging student assets, identities, and interests as the starting place from which to grow the student writer, could have an impact on the reported self-efficacy of the writing teacher. This dissertation is rooted in Bandura's self-efficacy theory and two theoretical frameworks: student-centered pedagogy and asset-based pedagogy. The chosen methodology was Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI) and the study focused on one participant, an early career 7/8 grade teacher of writing. Findings from this study indicate that developing further concept knowledge and utilization of student-centered, asset-based pedagogies had a positive effect on the participant's perceived self-efficacy for teaching writing. Furthermore, the data collection strategies that included collaboration between the researcher and the participant also had a positive effect on positive perceptions of selfefficacy for teaching writing.

Author: Tammy L. Bennett
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781339455044
Category : Composition (Language arts)
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
This mixed-methods study focused on first, second, and third grade elementary teachers from a Northwest Suburban Chicago school district, who were fully implementing the Being a Writer (Developmental Studies Center, 2007) program for the first time in their classrooms. The Being a Writer program provides teachers with daily writing lesson plans in addition to mentor texts that serve as proficient writing models for students. The quantitative portion of the study included administering pre-and post-study surveys to 11 teacher participants. The four survey components were a Demographic Information questionnaire (Graham et al., 2001), the Teaching Efficacy Scale for Writing (Graham et al., 2001), the Writing Orientation Survey (Graham et al.), and the Teaching Writing Survey (Graham et al.). Three focal teachers also participated in a qualitative multiple case study. The qualitative portion of the study included individual teacher interviews, classroom writing lesson and workshop observations, teacher self-reports, and document collection. A cross-case analysis was then conducted to examine similarities and differences across the three focal participants' data. The quantitative findings indicated there were no statistically significant changes in either the teachers' self-efficacy for teaching writing or their beliefs about teaching writing. One statistically significant change between the pre- and post-study survey results suggested that teachers assessed student writing less often after they implemented Being a Writer. However, the qualitative findings indicated that two of the focal teachers' personal self-efficacy for teaching writing increased during this study. All three focal teachers' beliefs about teaching writing fluctuated between a Correct Writing and a Natural Learning belief orientation as they implemented Being a Writer. Focal teachers' beliefs about the value of having students choose their own topics to write about strengthened. Other qualitative findings suggested that all three of the focal participants increased how often they had their students plan their writing, and two participants increased how often they had students confer with peers about their writing. This study's findings indicate that teachers' self-efficacy for teaching writing, beliefs about teaching writing, and use of instructional writing strategies may change as they implement an evidence-based writing program.

Author: Steve Graham
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 283254441X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
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.

Author: Finley, Stacie Lynn
Publisher: IGI Global
ISBN: 1668482983
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
The use of academic discourse in today’s educational environment has the potential to improve education for students from all backgrounds. To achieve this, further study on the best practices, challenges, and future opportunities is required. Cultivating Critical Discourse in the Classroom shares the benefits of empowering and engaging students at all levels of education through the use of academic discourse. The book also provides insights for educators to become more knowledgeable, and therefore better equipped, to create spaces through discourse where cultural competence is cultivated. Covering key topics such as identity, linguistics, student autonomy, and language, this premier reference source is ideal for administrators, policymakers, industry professionals, researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Author: Iolie Nicolaidou
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Writing performance is essential for academic success at all levels. To help elementary school students become better and motivated writers, educators need to help them have functional writing self-efficacy beliefs that slightly exceed what a learner can actually accomplish. A suggested way to achieve this is having students create process portfolios to: a) document the writing process and their progress monitoring, b) have access to peers' work and c) receive feedback. This multiple case study explored the development of students' writing performance and writing self-efficacy beliefs through a one-academic-year implementation of process portfolios in three fourth grade elementary school classes (N=63 students) in Cyprus. The students of two fourth grade classes (n2=23, n3=20) created paper-based process portfolios, while in the researcher's class (n1=20) students created digital portfolios. The study explored how process portfolio affordances, such as a process approach in writing, progress monitoring (goal setting, reflection, self-evaluation), access to peers' work and feedback related to students' writing performance and self-efficacy and how this relationship changed over time. It relied on a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) research methodology comprised of pre- mid-and post- portfolio implementation students' writing performance and self-efficacy tests, teachers' and students' interviews on their perceptions of portfolios and a portfolio artifact analysis. While there is much to understand regarding the impact of portfolios on students' writing performance and writing self-efficacy the results of this study produced several important findings and practical implications related to portfolio use and the added pedagogical benefits of portfolio affordances. The key findings revealed that students' writing performance increased over time. Learning gains were also found in students' ability to provide corrective feedback and constructive comments to their peers' work, to set goals, and to provide accurate self-evaluations of their work. Students' writing self-efficacy increased over time and became more accurate as it reflected students' actual performance by the end of portfolio implementation. Implications for practice and guidelines based on a bottom-up approach that could facilitate a large-scale implementation of digital and paper-based portfolios in Cyprus in the future are offered.

Author: Geneva Gay
Publisher: Teachers College Press
ISBN: 0807750786
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
The achievement of students of color continues to be disproportionately low at all levels of education. More than ever, Geneva Gay's foundational book on culturally responsive teaching is essential reading in addressing the needs of today's diverse student population. Combining insights from multicultural education theory and research with real-life classroom stories, Gay demonstrates that all students will perform better on multiple measures of achievement when teaching is filtered through their own cultural experiences. This bestselling text has been extensively revised to include expanded coverage of student ethnic groups: African and Latino Americans as well as Asian and Native Americans as well as new material on culturally diverse communication, addressing common myths about language diversity and the effects of "English Plus" instruction.

Author: Katherine Todd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Authorship
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the impact of a homeschooling context on the formation of writing self-efficacy among adolescent students. The formation of self-efficacy beliefs was defined according to Bandura’s four theoretical sources: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and physiological state. Thus, this study sought to investigate the following central question: What impact does a homeschooling context have on the formation of writing self-efficacy among adolescent students? And its related sub-questions: How are Bandura’s theoretical sources of self-efficacy evidenced in the formation of homeschooled adolescents’ writing self-efficacy? How do the instructional practices of homeschooling parents impact the formation of adolescent writing self-efficacy? The participants were comprised of eight homeschooled adolescents (ages 13–17) and their parent instructors, and data were collected through self-efficacy scales, instructional surveys, journals, documents, photo elicitation, and interviews. Analysis of the data found evidence of all four sources of self-efficacy present in the formation of writing self-efficacy among the homeschoolers included in the study, with the participants assigning the greatest weight to mastery experiences and social persuasion, respectively. In addition, three themes that appeared to impact self-efficacy formation emerged from the instructional practices described by the parents: They customized their instruction by altering the curriculum and offering choices in writing, delivered guidance through modeling and feedback, and fostered resilience by intervening in crises and celebrating progress.

Author: Julie Ann Martinez
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) has drawn persistent criticism due to the lack of empirical data to support its use. A recent review of the research literature found that some features of CRP positively impact the academic achievement of struggling learners. However, teachers’ practices were not well defined. This study utilized mixed methods to explore how 2nd grade teachers’ sense of self-efficacy for teaching diverse learners in dual language classrooms impacted their utilization of CRP. Teacher participants (n=4) completed the Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy (CRTSE) survey (Siwatu, 2007) and based on their scores, were classified into one of three levels of self-efficacy: high, moderate, or low. Data from two classroom observations per teacher, and individual semi-structured interviews with each, were coded and analyzed. Two key findings were that: (a) the alignment among the CRTSE scores, observed practices and teacher reported beliefs about CRP were not consistently aligned and (b) teachers’ conceptualization of CRP primarily focused on students’ bilingual development. This study contributes to research literature on CR pedagogy by examining how bilingual education teachers’ self-efficacy influences their implementation of CR practices.

Author: Brandi L. Noll
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Composition (Language arts)
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
"The purposes of this qualitative, multi-case study were (1) to find similarities and differences in writing instruction between self-reported high and low efficacy teachers and (2) to explore the sociocultural and experiential influences which impacted the development of these teachers' self-efficacy in writing. This study included four cases, two kindergarten and two first grade teachers. Two of the participants reported high efficacy, while the other two reported low efficacy on a writing Self-Efficacy Scale. Data were collected using interviews, classroom observations, and collection of documents. The constant comparative method of qualitative analysis was used to analyze the data. As conceptual categories emerged from the analysis, the evidence was sorted into categories. Comparison of the categories to one another resulted in theory that is grounded in these findings and this context. Data analysis revealed two major findings: (1) classroom instruction of high efficacy teachers was more systematic, student-centered, and process-oriented than that of the low efficacy teachers and (2) influences on participants' efficacy included early writing experiences in the home and school, and the influence of colleagues after the participants began their teaching careers. The grounded theory generated from these findings suggests that the writing instruction of teachers with high efficacy is more systematic, more student-centered and more process-oriented, the interactions and responses humans get from other human beings appear to be a critical factor in the development of writing self-efficacy, and having high self-efficacy as a writer, resulting from positive experiences in regard to writing, increases the chances of a teacher having high self-efficacy as a teacher of writing."--Abstract.

Author: Kim M. Mitchell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Background: Existing writing self-efficacy instruments have focused on assessing writing self-efficacy through examining mechanical and process features of writing to the neglect of the situated context and its influence. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to theoretically construct the concept of writing self-efficacy from a cognitive and socially constructed perspective and then measure writing self-efficacy from within the discipline of nursing. The initial phase required exploring the epistemological compatibility of self-efficacy theory and social constructionism. The culmination of this work was a multiphase multimethod project to develop and test the Situated Academic Writing Self-Efficacy Scale (SAWSES) based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory and a model of socially constructed writing. The thesis presents five individual papers by publication - two published and three submitted for publication. Methods: Four independent sample studies were conducted. Two studies formed the tool editing phase: a Delphi panel with 7 nursing and 8 writing scholars and Cognitive interviews with 20 undergraduate students. Study validation required two sample recruitments. Study 1 surveyed 255 nursing students examining exploratory factor analysis and a structural equation model. To enhance generalizability, Study 2 surveyed an interdisciplinary sample of undergraduate (N = 543) and graduate students (N = 264) to conduct a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. Results: The three identified factors present a structure to the questionnaire which is developmental and has the potential to detect gaps in student self-assessed ability to master various facets of disciplinary writing: 1) Factor 1 - Writing Essentials (synthesis, emotional control, language); 2) Factor 2 - Relational-Reflective - assesses relationship building with writing facilitators (teachers, academic sources) and the self through reflection; and 3) Factor 3 - Writing Identity - explores gaps in student achievement of transformative writing (creativity, voice, and disciplinary identity), where confidence can help identify the most engaged writers. Structural equation model procedures identified that writing apprehension and supportive environment were the strongest predictors of SAWSES scores. Conclusions: Findings from these studies support reliability and validity for SAWSES. SAWSES will offer educators a validated tool to research student writing self-efficacy, stimulate student reflection on writing, and significantly inform writing pedagogy.