How do student writers gain competence? How does writing constitute learning in particular disciplines? How does writing make learning visible? How do beliefs about writing influence both learning to write and writing to learn? This line of research concerns how writing might best be approached in writing classrooms and in teacher education.
Current Projects in this Area:
Teaching writers to reflect. This project, a collaboration with two elementary school teachers, is about teaching kids to reflect, through deliberate moves to remember, describe, and act on classroom writing experiences.
Whitney, A. E., McCracken, C. & Washell, D. (2019). Teaching Writers to Reflect: Strategies for a More Thoughtful Writing Workshop. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Publications in the area of Writing and Learning in School:
- Whitney, A. E. (in press-forthcoming Fall 2021). Growing Writers: Principles for High School Writers and their Teachers. Principles in Practice series. Urbana, IL: NCTE.
- Whitney, A. E. (2017). Keeping it real: Valuing authenticity in the writing classroom. English Journal 106(5).
- Whitney, A. E. & Johnson, L. (2017). The Persistent Relevance of a Writing Process Orientation. English Journal 106(4).
- Whitney, A. E., Olcese, N., & Squier, V. (2015). “It sounds wrong” vs. “I would be curious”: Challenges in seeing students as writers in a school-university partnership. Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education, 4(2). Olcese was a doctoral student and Squier is a local teacher.
- Juzwik, M., Whitney, A. E., Bell, A.B., & Smith, A. (2014). Re-thinking personal narrative in the pedagogy of writing teacher preparation. Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education 3(1) Article 4.
- Whitney, A.E., Olan, E. L., & Fredricksen, J. E. (2013). Experience Over All: Preservice Teachers and the Prizing of the “Practical”. English Education, 45(2), 184-200. Olan was a doctoral student.
- Whitney, A. E. & Olcese, N. (2013). Preparing beginning teachers for hard conversations. English Journal 102(3), 106-109. Olcese was a doctoral student.
- Whitney, A. E. (2011a). “I just turned in what I thought”: Authority and voice in student writing. Teaching English in the Two-Year College 9(2), 184-193.
- Whitney, A. E. (2011b). In search of the authentic English classroom: Facing the schoolishness of school. English Education 44(1), 51-62.
- Whitney, A. E., Ridgeman, M., & Masquelier, G. (2011). Beyond “Is this OK?”: High school writers building understandings of genre. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 54(7), 525-533. Ridgeman was a doctoral student; Masquelier is a local teacher.
- Whitney, A. E. (2007). Literary interpretation and writing-to-learn: Commentaries in a Milton course. Journal of Teaching Writing, 23 (1), 31-56.