Narrating and Performing Identity: Literacy Specialists' Writing Identities

Abstract

In this study, we explored ways that four literacy specialists who worked in three schools that were part of one state's Reading Excellence Act (REA) grant constructed their identities as writers and as teachers of writing. We also explored how they negotiated the performance of those identities in different contexts over a two-year period. Literacy specialists' writer's autobiographies composed during the first year and interviews conducted near the end of the second year comprised the major data sources that were analyzed through narrative analysis. Using Wortham's (2001) process of recording events and characters associated with those events allowed us to examine not only identity construction but also the performative nature of the telling of narratives through interactional positioning. The analysis explored complicated ways in which identities and contexts associated with schooled literacies aligned and conflicted, uncovering layers and intricacies of identity construction and enactment over time, and within and across narratives. Implications of these explorations for work in teacher education in terms of preparation of literacy educators and professional development suggest the importance of creating opportunities for revisiting autobiographical narratives to inform practice. In addition, we point to the power of narrative as it relates to both the telling of stories about identity and as an analytic tool.

Teachers as writers: a systematic review

“…Self-descriptions ranged from 'love' of writing to 'fearful and reluctant ' (McKinney and Giorgis 2009);'avid' to 'avoider' (Brooks 2007). McKinney and Giorgis (2009) found that teachers narrated diverse writer identities, both writer and non-writer, constructed over time through different life and school experiences. Two studies found that teachers of English/literacy were more likely to present themselves as keen readers than keen writers.…”

“…For some prospective teachers, the negative impact was such that as adults they remained fearful of writing and doubted their ability to teach it (Street 2003). For one experienced literacy specialist, memories of school writing were so distressing that she chose not to engage in writing or teach writing to students (McKinney and Giorgis 2009). By contrast, a practising teacher in Cremin and Baker's (2010) study attributed her growth in confidence to a single teacher and his commitment to writing tutorials.…”

“…Locke and Kato (2012), McKinney and Giorgis (2009), and Dix and Cawkwell (2011), for example, regard this conviction as central to their research project. Whilst transparency in this respect contributes to trustworthiness, it also has implications for the interpretation of data.…”

“…In-service studies similarly found that practitioners tended to conceive of writing practices hierarchically and, like their pre-service counterparts, did not always value the myriad of writing in which they engaged for everyday purposes. They frequently associated 'writing' with 'creative writing' in terms of what is widely recognised as distinctive in the field, such as literary works and published material (Cremin 2006;Cremin and Baker 2010;McKinney and Giorgis 2009;Yeo 2007). Yeo identifies 'the presence of absence' in teachers' conceptualisations of composition and literacy (123).…”

“…Other studies similarly document teachers' conflicting perceptions of personal and 'school' writing, or personal and professional writing, and the difficulties some teachers experienced reconciling these. Both Cremin and Baker (2010) and McKinney and Giorgis (2009) found discontinuities between teachers' constructions of their identities as writers and as teachers of writing, such that the writing classroom could become a 'site of struggle and tension' as teachers juggled 'more conforming identities: teacher-writer writing for the system and more liberating identities: writer-teachers writing more for themselves' (Cremin and Baker 2010, 21). Woodard (2013) identified three specific tensions between teacher-writers' representations of in-school and out-of-school writing: the purposes for writing, what constitutes writing 'authority', and their roles as teachers and writers.…”