Workshopping Writing Instruction: A Teacher's Struggle to Engage Young Writers

Abigail Nytko, Leah A. Nillas

Research output: Faculty Advisor of Undergraduate Research

Abstract

Across all disciplines, student engagement is one of the most discussed topics. Student engagement is defined in the classroom through varying subsets such as cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement (Fredericks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Specific disciplines face different challenges in engaging students. The English classroom curriculum involves composition, language, and literature. Most English classrooms find that composition is the least favorite to craft by students and to teach by teachers (Harris, 1977). While there have been many attempts at increasing student engagement, there is not much standardized information documented about how to engage high school students with the writing process. This study looks at the reasons as to why composition is least favorable and attempts to find the most effective and successful ways to engage students in the English classroom, specifically within the writing curricular content. This study was conducted in a rural community high school and included 78 student participants among 9th, 11th, and 12th grade English classrooms. The classes involved different levels of the English content included Honors, regular, and college bridge. Lesson plans, reflections, anecdotal records, and anonymous student work was collected and analyzed to gauge student engagement throughout the course of the semester. This study highlights different attempts to captivate students in the writing curriculum based on a variety of lesson plans, prompts, and environmental strategies implemented to increase student autonomy, interest, and engagement. This study specifically introduces the writer’s workshop format as a strategy for teachers to utilize in their classrooms as a possible and reliable solution to student resistance and disassociation.
Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 2023

Disciplines

  • Education

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