Utilizing a mixed-methods research design to study the development of writing skills in students participating in writing workshops in the first cycle of primary education

Abstract

In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (Belgium), teachers in the 1st cycle of primary education often find themselves at a loss when it comes to teaching their young pupils to produce written texts. Many of them choose to wait until the pupils have mastered the graphic gesture and are fully engaged in reading before devoting themselves to producing texts, even though research has long emphasised the positive influence of ‘early’ exposure to writing on learning to read and write. As part of a descriptive study conducted in 11 primary 1 classes, we are seeking to observe the interactions between the teaching provided using a structured didactic device (Calkins’ writing workshops, 2016, 2017) and the pupils’ concomitant learning. The adoption of a mixed research design combining quantitative and qualitative approaches allows us, on the one hand, to describe the evolution of pupils’ writing skills, with particular attention paid to the trajectories of pupils who present reading-writing difficulties prior to the intervention and/or come from school contexts with low socio-economic status ; on the other hand, to describe teachers’ appropriation of the writing workshop device and to identify potential areas of obstacles in the introduction of so-called ‘innovative’ practices.