Transactions among teachers and children : teachers'instructional behaviors and the writng processes of kindergarten children during classroom writing episodes

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to describe the interrelationships between teachers' instructional behaviors during writing instruction and the writing processes of beginning writers. The inquiry, conducted over an entire school year in two Kindergarten classrooms with either standardized sequential writing instruction or developmentally based writing instruction, gathered data through interview procedures, naturalistic observation of the writing processes of children in a classroom setting, naturalistic observation of the teachers' instructional behaviors during writing instruction, and the collection of the writing products of children. Two teachers were chosen for participation in the study because in each case their instructional behaviors during writing instruction met specific criteria identifying them as either presenting standardized, sequential writing instruction or developmentally based writing instruction. From naturalistic observation within these two classrooms, the teachers' instructional behaviors during writing instruction were described with regard to time spent during instruction in writing and behaviors demonstrated during writing instruction. From personal and video-taped observation, the children's writing processes were described in relation to teachers' instructional behaviors and teacher-child interactions. From audio tape-recorded interviews with children from these two classrooms, the children's perceptions of the writing processes and of the teacher's instructional behaviors were described and triangulation data was provided for the researcher's classroom observations. An analysis of the data indicates that (1) children's writing processes and perceptions of the writing process are influenced by teachers' instructional behaviors; (2) children's writing processes can be distinguished by their focus on either graphic features of letters and words or on meaning, and this focus is determined by the teachers' instructional behaviors; (3) children's writing processes can also be distinguished by their familiarity with print and their willingness to take risks with print; and (4) children in developmentally based writing classrooms display a wider range of writing processes than did children in standardized sequentially based writing classrooms.