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Preservice Teachers as WritersDenise N. Morgan aa Kent State University , Kent, OhioPublished online: 15 Sep 2010.

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Literacy Research and Instruction, 49: 352–365, 2010Copyright © Association of Literacy Educators and ResearchersISSN: 1938-8071 print / 1938-8063 onlineDOI: 10.1080/19388070903296411

Preservice Teachers as Writers

DENISE N. MORGAN

Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

This study examines 42 early childhood preservice teachers’ experiences in a writing methods course.Findings indicated that preservice teachers began the class with a strong sense of themselves as writ-ers along the good–bad writing dichotomy. Throughout their experiences in a writing methods coursethe preservice teachers identified four instructional strategies and experiences as helpful in devel-oping a more positive sense of self as writer and as future writing teacher. These included readinglike a writer, having similar writing experiences in class as their future students, writing regularlyand having choice in topic, and designing writing mini-lessons. This study adds to the research onpreservice teachers’ attitudes and perceptions about writing but also extends our understanding inwhat specific knowledge preservice teachers name as valuable from their course experience.

Keywords instructional strategies, preservice teachers, methods courses, writing, writinginstruction

Teachers need to write in order to become effective writing teachers (Graves, 1983;Grossman et al., 2000; McDonald, Buchanan, & Sterling, 2004; Murray, 1999; TheNational Commission on Writing for America’s Families, Schools and Colleges [hereafterThe National Commission on Writing], 2003). To teach writing well, teachers must expe-rience firsthand “the struggles and satisfactions of the writer’s task” (Blau, 1998, p. 31).Unfortunately, many practicing teachers feel uncomfortable teaching writing (Frank, 2003;Street & Stang, 2008). Some feel they did not learn to write well when they were students(Draper, Barksdale-Ladd, & Radencich, 2000). Additionally, many were not taught how toteach writing in college courses (Graves, 2002). Teachers who carry negative perceptionsof themselves as writers or who have had limited experience writing may be less likely toengage students in writing regularly in the classroom.

Knowing this, it becomes imperative that teacher educators provide preservice teach-ers with ample opportunities to learn about writing. Preservice teachers often learn aboutwriting instruction within a literacy methods course, so unfortunately, time for learningabout writing and teaching writers is limited to a few sessions. Preservice teachers needto rediscover writing and have multiple experiences as writers to draw upon when theyare in the classroom. They need opportunities to write for themselves, to live the samecurriculum and experiences they can later use with their own students. Preservice teach-ers should work on their own writing to better understand what authors do. They need toencounter the constant decision-making writers face—the slow, deep thinking, the searchfor the right word or phrase, the false starts and stops, along with the joy and satisfactionof getting ideas clearly stated on paper. Only by doing these things can preservice teach-ers truly understand the demands and complexity of writing. In addition, they need timeto learn about the pedagogy of teaching writing. This means preservice teachers need to

Address correspondence to Denise N. Morgan, Kent State University, 404 White Hall, Kent, OH 44242.E-mail: dmorgan2@kent.edu

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spend more than a few sessions on the subject of writing; they need a class devoted towriting. This study investigates preservice teachers’ experiences in a semester-long coursefocused on developing their own personal writing and learning the pedagogical knowledgefor teaching writers in their future classrooms.

Literature Review

In their synthesis of effective elementary literacy teachers studies, Williams and Baumann(2008) found that effective teachers have a deep knowledge of writing methods, demon-strate enthusiasm for writing, share why they value writing (Pressely et al., 2001), and evenshare their own insecurities about writing with their students (Allington & Johnston, 2002).Studies on the National Writing Project model have found that teachers who had “high”writing lives, that is teachers who wrote regularly, had increased student achievement inwriting more than teachers with “low” writing lives (Fearn & Farnan, 2007; Whytle et al.,2007). In essence, effective teachers write regularly and talk about their writing to theirstudents.

In the teaching of writing, strong professional development can help teachers seethemselves as writers. One of the guiding principles of the National Writing Project isthat teachers of writers must be writers themselves (Fearn & Farnan, 2007; McDonald etal., 2004; Whytle et al., 2007). Teachers who participated in a graduate course that focusedon personal writing and the teaching of writing felt more comfortable with themselves aswriters and with teaching writers in their classroom (Frank, 2003; Street & Stang, 2008).A semester course helped inservice teachers become more comfortable with writing.

One goal of teacher education is to help preservice teachers develop a greater under-standing of complex tasks (Darling-Hammond, 2000). Teaching writing is complex. Todeal with that complexity and to better prepare future teachers, the National Commissionon Writing recommends universities require prospective teachers to take courses on how toteach writing. Course work and more focused education in writing are supported by bothprofessional organizations (CCCE Executive Committee, 1982; NCTE, 2008) and otherresearchers investigating writing instruction in schools (Draper et al., 2000; Grossman etal., 2000; Moore-Hart & Carpenter, 2008; Street, 2003; Street & Stang, 2008). Engagingpreservice teachers in a writing workshop where they write themselves is one way to helpthem understand the complexity involved in writing and in the teaching of writing. Such acourse supports preservice teachers in learning how to think like a writer in order to betterteach writing to their students (Freedman, Flower, Hull, & Hayes, 1997; Grossman et al.,2000; The National Commission on Writing, 2003; 2004).

This dual focus on self as writer and the pedagogy of teaching writing is importantbecause by the time preservice teachers are in college, they have developed a sense ofwho they are as writers. Unfortunately, many preservice teachers dislike writing or thinkthey are poor writers (Gallavan, Bowles, & Young, 2007). This perception is likely toremain unchanged as few universities have courses devoted to writing (Moore-Hart &Carpenter, 2008) despite the call for the contrary (NCTE, 2008; The National Commissionon Writing, 2003; 2004). However, even with a class, it is imperative that preserviceteachers not be told what to do in teaching writing but rather live the experience of writing(Fearn & Farnan, 2007).

Teachers often filter their new knowledge (Richardson & Placier, 2001). Their pastknowledge and experiences shape what and how they learn (Richardson, 1996). We knowthat “beginning teachers [learn] to teach writing by drawing on a variety of knowl-edge sources including prior experiences, teacher education, trial and error, professional

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development experiences, and self-reflection and by relying on their own beliefs and atti-tudes about teaching writing” (Pardo, 2006, p. 381). It could be argued that the same holdstrue for preservice teachers. They enter methods courses with previous experiences, atti-tudes, and perceptions about writing and filter new information about writing through thesepast experiences and beliefs.

Many preservice teachers have described their knowledge of the writing process as“nonexistent” (Colby & Stapleton, 2006) or believed they were unable to articulate howto foster a love of writing in their future students (Draper et al., 2000). As teacher educa-tors, we must try to uncover preservice teachers’ previous writing experiences and beliefsabout writing to better understand what ideas and perceptions might potentially interferewith teaching writing in their future classrooms. In addition, teacher educators need to pro-vide preservice teachers with new experiences that help them develop a vision for writinginstruction. This way, they will have more recent, positive experiences and knowledge todraw on when in the classroom. Researchers have found that engaging preservice teachersin the process of writing during a literacy methods course helps them develop more positiveattitudes, perceptions, and understandings about the writing process (Chambliss & Bass,1995; Colby & Stapleton, 2006; Grisham & Wolsey, 2007; Nistler, 2007).

While most studies of preservice teachers and writing have occurred within a literacycourse addressing both reading and writing, this is one of the few studies that examinedpreservice teachers’ experiences in a course entirely devoted to writing. This study adds toresearch on preservice teachers’ attitudes and perceptions about writing but also extendsour knowledge by identifying specific knowledge and understandings preservice teachersare able to articulate at the end of the semester. I posed three research questions: (1) Whatunderstandings and perceptions do preservice teachers have about writing and themselvesas writers prior to engaging in a semester long writing course? (2) What ideas and expe-riences do preservice teachers identify as salient from a course on process writing? and(3) How do preservice teachers articulate and demonstrate their growth in understandingthemselves as writers and of teaching writers at the end of the semester?

Method

Context and Participants

In our program, preservice teachers take four literacy courses. Three courses address read-ing and one course is devoted to teaching writing. I taught both sections of the 16-weekwriting course for these early childhood (P–3) preservice teachers the semester prior tostudent teaching. All 42 (40 female, 2 male) participants were senior European American,early childhood education students. Two preservice teachers, both female, were non-traditional students. During the second to last class of the semester, I informed thepreservice teachers of my desire to study their experiences in this course and asked forwilling participants. Students were informed verbally and in writing that the decisionnot to participate would not influence their final grade. All preservice teachers chose toparticipate.

In this course, I used the unit of study approach to teaching writing (Ray, 2006) withina writing workshop framework (Fletcher & Portalupi, 2001; Graves, 1983; Murray, 1999).We read About the Authors by Katie Wood Ray (2004) as our core text. In class, we studiedthe how-to, all about, poetry, and memoir genres. As part of each condensed unit of study,the preservice teachers wrote a “try-it” piece in each genre. The purpose was to allowpreservice teachers to apply what they learned in the unit of study to their own writing

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and to understand the demands of writing in a particular genre. These “try-its” could alsolater serve as an example to share with their students. In addition to the four kinds ofwriting studies in class, the preservice teachers wrote another book in a genre of theirchoice.

Data Sources and Analysis

Multiple data sources informed this semester-long investigation. During the first week ofclass, preservice teachers wrote an initial essay reflecting on their past experiences as writ-ers. (In the description for this assignment, I deliberately required that students not addresslearning to hold a pencil, to print, or to use cursive. In previous semesters, preservice teach-ers frequently wrote about these issues when asked to reflect on what they remember aboutlearning to write.) During weeks 2 and 3, I interviewed the preservice teachers individuallyfor 15–25 minutes to talk more about their essays. The intent was to better understand theirexperiences with writing. I often asked for elaboration or clarification on something theyhad written in their initial essay.

The preservice teachers completed weekly exit slips where they responded to severalopen-ended questions about course material. For example, preservice teachers were askedto list an “ah-ha” moment for them in class or to reflect on their experience sharing theirwriting with the class. I also examined the preservice teachers’ try-it examples, their open-ended reflections asking them to reflect on their experiences writing that particular bookand their small group unit of study assignment and individual reflections. Preservice teach-ers wrote an end-of-the-semester essay asking them to reflect on their sense of self as writerand their writing experiences in class and they wrote anonymously written comments abouttheir learning experiences on an informal course feedback form and the formal universitycourse evaluations.

While some of the data came from graded course assignments, many of these assign-ments were open-ended asking students to reflect on their most recent learning experiences.They were deliberately open so I could see what students valued and gained from theseexperiences. In addition to the graded assignments, several pieces of data such as the indi-vidual interviews, weekly exit slips, e-mails, and end of course information and universityevaluations were not graded.

Data were analyzed inductively using constant comparative analysis (Corbin &Strauss, 2008). Using a continuous and recursive process, I coded data with an open cod-ing system guided by my research questions. Initial codes such as “writing as copying,”“instruction in handwriting,” and “prompt writing” emerged. After arriving at these ini-tial codes, I began more focused coding, which led to clearly defined categories such as“inconsistent writing experiences.” In some cases, a frequency count occurred, dependingon the particular category.

A colleague independently coded a subset of my data to validate my categories andestablish inter-rater reliability. In her initial reading of the subset, we were in agreement92% of the time. After discussion, she coded another subset of data and we reached 96%agreement.

In addition, I engaged in member checking with two former students asking them tonote places where they (a) believed the findings true to their own experience, (b) believedthe findings true to their close classmates’ experiences, (c) believed the findings not tobe true to their own or close classmates’ experiences, and (d) to mark places where theyhad questions or additional comments. For each category, both students indicated that thefindings were true for themselves and believed to be true for their close classmates.

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Findings

Research Question 1: What Understandings and Perceptions do Preservice Teachershave About Writing and Themselves as Writers Prior to Engaging in a Semester LongWriting Course?

Preservice teachers’ sense of self as writers often related to how they labeled themselvesas a writer. This stemmed from their positive or negative interactions or grades from theirteachers and the kinds of writing experiences they had throughout their schooling.

Sense of Self as Writer. In their initial essays, each of the preservice teachers gave them-selves labels as writers. Twenty-five of the 42 preservice teachers stated they were notconfident in their writing. Many said they were “insecure,” “struggling,” or “ashamed oftheir writing.” Two preservice teachers identified themselves as “growing” in their writingability, while 15 stated they felt comfortable as writers, stating they were “accomplished”or “talented.” Overall, almost 60% of the preservice teachers did not feel confident withthemselves as writers.

Most preservice teachers specifically identified their perceived difficulties or strengthsas writers. In his initial essay, Patrick (all names are pseudonyms) wrote, “I have startedthis sentence a total of five times and have deleted each attempt. I struggle at writing andfeel that I have much to learn when it comes to grammar, spelling, and writing structure.”This speaks to a common thread of fear that preservice teachers mentioned about writ-ing. For many, there was always an internal struggle with writing. Eighteen preserviceteachers specifically mentioned issues with grammar, spelling, and punctuation as areas ofdifficulty or concern. In addition, they identified difficulties such as organization, creativ-ity, awkward sentences, run on fragments, wordiness, handwriting, neatness, and lack ofan extensive vocabulary. In fact, Ally wrote, “Fear of failing affects me to this day.” Thepreservice teachers who felt more comfortable with their writing named strengths such asincluding enough detail, expressing ideas clearly, being able to write an introduction, body,and ending, and having confidence in communicating.

Influence of Specific Interactions With Teachers and Grades on Paper. Preservice teachersoften identified a specific interaction with a teacher or a specific grade as contributing totheir sense of self as writer. They often cited a moment they felt confirmed or disconfirmedtheir ability as a writer. Teacher comments made a lasting impression on many preserviceteachers. Preservice teachers often recalled when the comments were positive. Sometimesthe comment was simple: “You are a good writer” or “You have a talent for writing.” Jayewrote:

I remember being told in (an earlier course) by one of my professors that I hada way of expressing myself in a very clear, yet sophisticated way. I believe thatone comment affected my view of myself as a successful writer immensely.

For some, a pivotal moment came when they earned a certain grade on a paper. For Natalie,it was when she earned a C on an essay about the death of her second-grade friend that shequestioned her ability as a writer. She cared deeply about her piece, put her “heart andsoul” into it, but her grade “sent her a message.” For Liz, receiving an A– on her firstcollege paper was an experience that “turned the tide” in her sense of self of writer. Other

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students remembered cringing from seeing “all of those red marks” or “blood” on theirpapers and felt their marked-up papers were indications of their writing abilities.

Inconsistent Writing Experiences. Many preservice teachers did not remember much aboutlearning to write. What they did recall was copying, answering prompts, and working onhandwriting as their instruction in writing. In some cases, they remembered the feelingor experience more than the content. For instance, Meredith wrote, “From grades 2–11,I do not remember one positive writing experience. I was told what to write and how towrite it.” Few preservice teachers recalled being allowed freedom to choose their topics.Many preservice teachers recalled instructional gaps; a preservice teacher would remem-ber a third-grade writing experience and then nothing until eleventh grade. Katie wrote,“I wish I could remember something truly meaningful about learning to write, but I can-not.” When specific writing experiences were remembered, they were often centered on aparticular writing experience (e.g., writing a book of poetry or making a special book fortheir mother).

In addition to not always remembering what they were taught about writing, preser-vice teachers also reported hearing inconsistent messages about their writing ability fromteachers as they moved from elementary to middle, high school to college, or from collegeprofessor to college professor. What worked in elementary school was no longer success-ful in middle school. Laurie wrote, “The star or sticker I would get when my writing washanded back gave me the confidence I needed in the early years to begin writing. When Ientered high school, I began to see more red circles and words underlined, which made mequestion if I really knew how to write.” For Suzi, the formula she learned for writing highschool papers caused her initial difficulty in college freshman English.

Past experiences and sense of self as writer often influenced the kinds of writing thepreservice teachers did regularly. Many reported not writing outside class. They blamed therigors of being in college and only writing to complete required assignments. Many felt thewriting they did for their classes left them with no time or energy to write for themselves.Jaye wrote that, “Writing is a chore, time-consuming, and mentally challenging.” Only 6of the 42 preservice teachers stated they currently enjoyed writing and did so regularly,spending their free time writing poems, cards, song lyrics, and keeping journals.

Research Question 2: What Ideas and Experiences do Preservice Teachers Identify asSalient from a Course on Process Writing?

The preservice teachers identified four ideas and experiences as salient from their courseon process writing. They named learning how to read like a writer, having similar writ-ing experiences as their future students, writing regularly and having choice in topic, anddesigning writing mini-lessons as important learning experiences.

Reading Like a Writer. Many preservice teachers named reading like a writer (Murray,1999; Ray, 2006), learning to notice how something is written, as pivotal to their growthas writers and as teachers of future writers. They came to see how reading like a writercould shape their own writing. They became aware of writing options and began to makeintentional decisions when writing. Meredith wrote:

One of the most important things I have learned through class is that . . . writerstake chances with their writing, they play with words, spacing, and punctuationuntil it suits their preference . . . whether they use bold print to emphasize a

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word or use lovely language to guide the reader to visualize what they arereading, writers purposefully use these ideas to enhance their writing.

Preservice teachers even found themselves reading like writers outside of class. Natalieshared, “I knew that I had really learned a lot when I was reading something for scienceclass and thought to myself, ‘Wow, I really like how that author wrote that.’ It really makesme smile to see how differently I see the world of reading and writing.” For many, readinglike a writer became a way to teach themselves about writing. They learned that if theynoticed something or liked something a writer did, they could study it and try it in theirown writing.

Having Similar Writing Experiences as Their Future Students. In this course, preserviceteachers studied and wrote texts in the genres we explored in class, something we called“try-its.” As the semester progressed, so did the writing quality of their individual try-its. The preservice teachers began including more ideas and techniques in their pieces;they “borrowed” more from the texts we read together. In reflecting on her experiencewith the try-it examples, Yvonne wrote, “I was able to take on the role of a student asI learned through the eyes of a teacher.” Many stated that writing different pieces helpedthem experience what their students would go through and helped them think about whatthey might expect of their future students. Many felt that this experience would help thembetter understand where students might encounter difficulty in their writing (“They mighthave difficulty getting started like I did,” “It might take them awhile to find the right topic.It was hard finding the right one.”). Amber reflected:

By having created my own try-its, I am now more informed as a teacher. Iunderstand the decisions that children will struggle with and decide on theirown as they write their own pieces. Also, I am now more apt to ask children“Why?” as we discuss their writing. I want to understand the decisions theymade.

Many spoke highly of this experience (“most beneficial,” “the thing that really made adifference in my learning,” “It was enjoyable and I never thought I would say that aboutwriting”) and were happy to have their samples to share with future students (“I can sharemy work and tell them about the decisions I made” “I can’t wait to show my students mybooks.” “I will be able to talk to my students writer to writer.”)

Writing Regularly and Choice in Topic. Preservice teachers mentioned enjoying and find-ing it helpful to write every class period. Since they knew they would be writing in class,they said they often thought about their writing ahead of time. Even though the classmet weekly, preservice teachers seemed to appreciate the consistent writing opportuni-ties. Many talked about working on their writing outside of class because they found itenjoyable. Lucy shared her story:

When we had time to write in class, I was like a writing maniac getting all ofmy ideas out onto the paper. I couldn’t get enough of it. I would go home andwrite some more. . . . I grew so much as a writer that I even came home afterour day of writing poems in class and wrote one on my own. Me! The girl whohates writing!

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Preservice teachers repeatedly mentioned being able to select their own topic as criticalto their writing. For many, this was a new experience; throughout schooling and morerecently, in college, most of their writing choices were dictated by required assignments.Some preservice teachers experienced initial difficulty and angst at having to choose theirown topics. For Debbie, the greatest impact in “changing her mind about writing” wasthe “freedom” she was given to select her own topic within a particular genre. She felt“empowered being able to write what I wanted.” Other preservice teachers reported feel-ing a “freedom” they had not experienced in awhile and often credited choice of topic ascontributing to their renewed excitement about writing. Many commented on what thisfreedom could do for their future students. In a collaborative assignment, one group wrote:

By giving children choice in the topic of their writing, they are empowered totell their stories and write about what interests them. Children need to be inter-ested in the topic in order to care about the writing and if they cannot choosethe topic themselves, they may not be interested in writing about it. Whenchildren write about something that is personal to them, they are motivated towrite, resulting in a more sophisticated and refined end product.

Designing Mini-Lessons. Preservice teachers designed a self-chosen unit of study with asmall group. Using their anchor or mentor texts (Ray, 2004, 2006) as a guide, they devel-oped mini-lessons for that particular genre. They were required to be explicit in theirlanguage and use examples from anchor texts to share as possibilities for their students.They felt having to create mini-lessons was crucial to their understanding of how to teachwriting to their students (“It was difficult but worth it.” “We had long discussions about thelanguage we could use that would help our students understand these ideas.” “We saw howmuch you can do with a good example.”). Preservice teachers felt they better understood“how and what to teach” their students. For Yvonne, this experience helped her learn thatshe could design mini-lessons to provide her future students with “ideas that might inspiretheir own thinking.”

Research Question 3: How do Preservice Teachers Articulate and Demonstrate theirGrowth in Understanding About Themselves as Writers and for Teaching Writers at theend of the Semester?

At the end of the semester, preservice teachers articulated or demonstrated growth in threeareas: an increased sense of confidence and sense of self as writer; an understanding thatwriting takes work; and development of and comfort with voice.

Increased Sense of Confidence and Sense of Self as Author. Preservice teachers reported anincrease in self-confidence (“I feel like I have grown as a writer,” “I believe in myself more.I am an author,” and “I used to dislike writing, but now I know I am a writer! And I love it!”)as a result of taking a class on writing. Many preservice teachers came to new realizationsabout writing (“Writing can actually be fun. I can have my future students enjoy it also.”“Writing is no longer a chore.”). In their informal and formal course evaluations, preserviceteachers wrote comments such as “My confidence as a writer has sky rocketed,” “I wasable to do things I didn’t think I could do, such as writing poems and becoming good at it,”“I felt like I was really given the opportunity to grow as a writer,” and “I learned writingwas not something to fear.” Several talked about their new found “passion” for writing andtheir surprise at being able to write in genres they initially thought beyond their capabilities

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or did not think they would enjoy. Some felt they had a comprehensive understanding oftheir role as writer. Julie wrote, “I am a purposeful writer now.” Jessica reflected on herexperiences:

Throughout the semester, I have grown as a writer. In the past, I usually wroteonly in response to others’ requests and in order to please them. Throughoutthis semester, my purpose for writing has shifted. I have begun to write formyself instead of for others. I still write for an audience but what I write aboutand how I construct my work is self-initiated and self-motivated. I have expe-rienced what it is like to study authors, texts, genres, and writing techniques. Ihave experienced first hand how powerful it is to write your stories down and towrite about things that interest you. Each time we studied a book, technique, orgenre, I envisioned new possibilities that I believe had the potential to impactmy writing.

Throughout the course, preservice teachers continued to compare their initial writing fearsto their current feelings. For the first several class meetings, Autumn said she asked herselfevery day, “Can I really do this?” but then realized, “Yes, I can write.” Two preserviceteachers shared they wanted to cry at the thought of sharing their writing with the rest ofthe class but eventually that was no longer the case. This increased sense of confidencewas not limited to preservice teachers who initially feared writing, but also to studentswho enjoyed and were comfortable with writing upon entering class. One such student,Margaret, believed her confidence increased when she tried different genres and foundsuccess in ones she was initially “hesitant” about. Wendy wrote, “I am more at home withwriting now.”

Writing Takes Work. Many preservice teachers came to realize that writing takes time andwork. They discovered they needed to work on their writing; first draft writing was nolonger sufficient. Some preservice teachers felt they learned this the hard way. Even thoughthey knew that their writing would be shared in class, some did not take it seriously at first.They produced a piece that was passable, but it was only when they read other classmates’books did they come to realize the necessary effort needed to produce a piece of whichthey could be proud. Sarah admitted she was embarrassed with her first attempt. It did notrepresent her best work and she realized her other classmates noticed it also when readingher book. Progressively, they seemed to spend more time and effort on their try-its. Wendycame to realize “there are no bad pieces of writing, only pieces that need revision andediting.”

Some found they were naturally willing to spend more time on their books becausethey cared about their topics; their topics gave them impetus to do their best work (“I had ahard time on this beginning. It wasn’t working,” “I kept trying different endings,” “It tookme a long time to do this but I wanted to get it right.”). The preservice teachers wantedtheir work to represent their best effort. Many later gave copies of their poems or writingto family and friends as gifts. As she reflected at the end of the semester, Jaye wrote:

As we completed our projects, I developed the ability and desire to return tomy work in order to improve upon it. Before, I would write a paper, story,etc., and then just be done with it as soon as I wrote the last sentence. Thiscourse has taught me that writing is a continual process that, more often thannot, your work is never ‘done.” It makes me feel more confident that I can

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return to a piece and make it better, even when I thought it was perfect the firsttime. I find that it really was not ‘perfect’ after the first try, and that each timeI come back to it, there is a new idea or perspective in my head to consider. I amsurprised at my ability to return to my work and my willingness to improve it.

The preservice teachers began to realize that, in many cases, their first draft writing nolonger met their intentions as writers and developed the desire to work on their writing.

Development of and Comfort With Voice. Preservice teachers began experimenting withtheir writing. They tried what they noticed other authors doing in books such as playingwith the look and size of certain words or placement of text. Many preservice teachersasked for permission to be “creative” and “playful” with their last assignment, an essayasking them to reflect on their experiences and learning in the course. This playfulnesstook many forms. Some experimented with format. Two choose to write their reflections asmemoir, another created a how-to book, one used an ABC book format, one included “Didyou know?” text boxes in her essay, and another submitted a piece using the landscape pageformat instead of the traditional portrait setting because “books are not always traditionallyset up and I wanted to try that too.” They played with font, size, use of color, and boldnessof text within their pieces and were playful with their writing in voice and tone (“To writeor not to write . . . that’s not even a question. Write!) or by beginning their piece like aprevious book we studied.

In our study of all about books, we examined Gail Gibbon’s (1999) book Pigs. In itshe begins, “Many people think pigs are smelly and dirty. They think pigs ‘eat like pigs’and aren’t very smart. That’s because they don’t know pigs!” (n.p). As a class, we namedthis technique as beginning with a stereotypical thought or remark. Several months later,Missy borrowed that technique and began her final essay with “Writing is boring. Writingis hard. Have you ever thought these things? Well, I have too.” Many chose to includerepeating lines for emphasis. Jaye ended each of her paragraphs with the repeated line“I am surprised” throughout her piece (“I am surprised that I no longer avoid writing.”“I am surprised at my ease of expression and the joy I now find in writing”). Lucy wrote apoem as a way to end her essay.

The preservice teachers demonstrated intention in their writing. They were encouragedto name their deliberate decisions when they shared their pieces with the class or in theirreflection pieces that accompanied their try-its. They included parenthetical informationhighlighting deliberate decisions they wanted me to notice. For example, Margaret, beganher piece by writing “Passion. Writing is about passion. (We talked about using fragmentsin class and how this adds to a piece of writing.)” She concluded with “Writing is aboutpassion. Passion. (A few of the books we have read this semester would begin and endwith the same sentence).” Many preservice teachers felt they rediscovered their voices andfor many this meant including humor in their writing. Kate chose to begin her piece, “So,I guess poetry isn’t as horrible as I thought.” In his reflection, Max began:

So far for this class, I have written precisely 19,738 words (that’s not countinghand-written work done in class). If printed out, that’s enough to circle theequator nearly two and a half times!

The font would be absurdly large, but it could happen.

I’d hate to have written all of those words and not grown somehow.

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Most preservice teachers began to uncover or strengthen their voices through their repeatedopportunities to write. They took ownership of their right as an author to make intentionaldecisions about their texts.

Discussion

If preservice teachers are to teach writing well, they need to draw on experiences thatsupport their teaching. The main purpose of this study was to examine preservice teachers’understandings and perceptions about writing and themselves as writers prior to and aftera semester-long writing course. In addition, I wanted to determine which course ideas andexperiences resonated with the preservice teachers to better understand what they identifiedas helpful to their learning.

This study is limited in that it spans one semester of instruction in which I wasthe instructor and that I analyzed the data from my course. As with all classroom-basedresearch conducted by the instructor it is possible that some students may have been lesscritical of their learning in class or that some students wished “to please the teacher” andtherefore, stated they gained more from the class than they actually did. Although this ispossible, the patterns reported here were visible across multiple pieces of data. In addition,two sets of anonymous data gathered through the formal numerical and open commentsuniversity course evaluations and the written comments from a personally created finalfeedback form supports the findings shared in this paper. While the findings show thatparticipation in a writing class made a personal difference for the preservice teacher aswriters and for helping them become familiar with some writing pedagogical tools, we donot know how these ideas translate into classroom practice during student teaching, andmore importantly, in their own classrooms. In this study, I focused solely on the preserviceteachers’ writing course experience and did not follow them into their student teachingexperience. Very few studies about writing have followed preservice teachers into theirfirst teaching position and there is a need for more studies that follow preservice teachersover time so we can better understand this important transition.

What we do know from this study is that most preservice teachers were not confi-dent in themselves as writers at the beginning of the semester. Their stated weaknesses orareas of worry were with grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Although these are importantmatters, professional writers do not consider these the most important aspects of writing.Rather, composing ideas, writing with simplicity and clarity, establishing a line of thought,providing detail that helps the reader live through the experience, and finding somethingmeaningful to say are the ideas and issues that are at the heart of what matters to mostprofessional writers (Murray 1999; Zinsser, 2001).

The preservice teachers recalled specific teachers’ comments and the grades theyreceived. As teacher educators, we must help preservice teachers realize they will holdthat same power when they are in the classroom. Even though these preservice teacherswere born in the late 1980s, a time of increased interest in the process writing movement,many did not recall consistent instruction in writing. Most mentioned large gaps in theirwriting instruction. These instructional issues need to be addressed in classes with pre-service teachers. Future teachers need to examine their prior writing experiences whilebuilding their vision for the possibility of new practices.

The preservice teachers often identified key understandings about teaching writing asimportant to their learning. From their experiences, they discovered or rediscovered theprocess writing tenets of choice in topic and writing regularly. Having lived this them-selves, albeit for 2 hours and 45 minutes once a week, they came to understand what these

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opportunities offer their future students. Understanding the power of choice is somethingthat must be lived. As teacher educators, we can talk about the importance of allowingstudents choice but it takes on significance when preservice teachers experience the powerand excitement of choice.

Reading like a writer (Ray, 2004; 2006) is empowering. Preservice teachers learnedthat studying what others have written can influence and support their own writing. This issomething published authors have always done. Authors like Anne Lamott (1994) andStephen King (2000) credit reading for making them better writers. Feeling comfort-able with this mindset supports preservice teachers in planning mini-lessons. Preserviceteachers can look to the books they share with their students for ideas for future mini-lesson. What they notice with their students about how things are written become thesame techniques they can encourage their students to try themselves. Understanding thepower of reading like a writer allows preservice teachers to “co-teach” with many talentedauthors.

There is much to learn about writing and about teaching writers. In order to helppreservice teachers develop and deepen their knowledge about writing they must haveample time to understand how writing works and how to help young writers flourish. Sincemany preservice teachers have a negative view of writing and themselves as writers andteacher attitudes influence the way writing it taught in schools, it becomes imperative thatteacher educators find a way to disrupt this cycle. This study has shown that includingone course specifically focused on writing can positively impact preservice teachers senseof self as writers, their attitudes toward writing and sense of self-efficacy. In addition,preservice teachers should have access to a full writing methods course rather than learningabout writing within a readings methods course. It is clear from this study that preserviceteachers appreciated having the opportunity to write regularly throughout the semester andthis cannot be accomplished if only one or two class periods are devoted to learning aboutwriting.

Findings from this study expand our understandings of how preservice teachers per-ceive their experiences in a writing course and provide insights on how they are able toarticulate their understandings from the course. We know that semester-long writing courseopportunities can make a difference for preservice teachers (Moore-Hart & Carpenter,2008). Students saw themselves as more able and confident as a result of their experiences.These findings add to research that teacher education can affect how preservice teachersthink about teaching writing and help preservice teachers prepare for “predictable dilem-mas” they will face in the teaching of writing (Grossman et al., 2000). Further research isneeded to explore the nature of preservice teachers’ transitions into their student teachingexperience and their own classrooms. More research is needed to better understand howpreservice teachers choose to teach writing in their own classrooms, a process that maytake several years to unfold (Grossman et al., 2000).

Final Thoughts

The first week of class, Laurie wrote, “I am a writer who wants to share my ideas with theworld, however, I lack the confidence in my ability to do so.” As teacher educators, we needto find ways to meet the call for increased writing instruction in undergraduate education.To not do so could leave some preservice teachers, like Laurie, without a firm foundationfrom which to draw on when teaching young writers. It is possible that regular experienceswith writing can help preservice teachers learn more about themselves as writers so theyknow and can say with confidence, as Sarah did, at the end of the semester: “I am a writer.”

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