In the context of renewed interest in teachers' identities as writers and the writers as artisteducators, this paper reports upon the findings of 'Teachers as Writers ' (2015-2017). A collaborative partnership between two universities and a creative writing foundation, the study sought to determine the impact of writers' engagement with teachers on changing teachers' classroom practices in the teaching of writing and, as a consequence, in improving outcomes for students. The project afforded opportunities for writers and teachers to work together as learners in order to improve student outcomes. The study involved two complementary data sets: a qualitative dataset of observations, interviews, audio capture (of workshops, tutorials and co-mentoring reflections) and audio-diaries from 16 teachers; and a randomised controlled trial (RCT) involving 32 primary and secondary classes. The findings reveal that the teachers' identities and assurance as writers shifted significantly. The Arvon experience also led to pedagogic shifts which the students reported impacted positively upon their motivation, confidence, and sense of ownership and skills as writers. However, these salient dispositional shifts did not impact upon the young people's attainment. The professional writers gained new understandings which substantially altered their conceptions of writers' potential contribution in schools.
This article reports on the ®ndings of a small-scale study into the perceptions of 78 primary school children regarding the adults in their classrooms. The data show that children easily differentiate between their own class teacher and other adults, but report a substantial overlap between the activities of teachers and teaching assistants. Some express the difference in terms of status rather than role. Accounts call into question the notion that teaching assistants`help' rather than teach and that there is a clear division of labour between them and teachers. Teachers and assistants are seen as working in an interdependent way, with each making a signi®cant contribution to children's learning. The dif®culties of using children's language as evidence are considered and it is concluded that the notion of a`remodelled' primary school workforce needs to take into account the ways in which teachers and assistants maintain¯uid working relationships.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.