Middle School Teachers' Perspectives of Writing Pedagogy Experience in Embedding Writing in Instruction

Subject line: Middle School Teachers’ Perspectives of Writing Pedagogy Experience and Embedding Writing in Instruction; research study; need your insight.

My name is Amanda Stewart, I am a doctoral student at Walden University, and I am interested in learning about coursework experiences of middle school teachers that focused on writing pedagogy and how they integrate and assess writing in their lessons. You were invited to participate in this qualitative case study interview because of your teaching training and experience.

I am looking for middle school science teachers and college instructors who completed a teacher education program or worked in a teacher education program between the years of 2015 and 2023. The interview should last approximately 45 minutes.  I would like to be respectful of your time.  The interview can be face-to-face, or virtual if necessary. After the interview, I will email you a transcript of the interview so that you can let me know if I captured your thoughts correctly.  

If you would like more information about the study, please go to www.stewartandstewartconsulting.com and click on Research Study. If you are available to participate in my study, please send an email to amanda.stewart5@waldenu.edu and confirm.  For confidentiality, please include your private email address. Once I receive your email, the next step will be for me to email you the participant criteria checklist and a consent form.  The checklist and form will be emailed to your private email address that you shared. After the consent form is signed and returned to me, then we can schedule the interview.  Thank you in advance for your willingness to participate.

Sincerely, 

Amanda Stewart 

Doctoral Candidate

Walden University

The local problem to be explored in this study are the barriers and challenges facing middle school teachers in integrating writing skills in the science classroom, which may be connected to students’ performance. 

The purpose of this basic qualitative study is to explore college instructors and middle school science teachers’ perspectives regarding how teacher education programs provide the pedagogical skills necessary to integrate writing within the science classroom. Grounded in the Shulman's pedagogical content knowledge framework, research questions will ask how college teacher preparation instructors describe their preparation of future secondary science teachers regarding writing, and how middle school science teachers describe how their college teacher preparation program provided course experiences needed to integrate and assess writing in the science classroom. 

Using a basic qualitative design, data will be collected from 15 certified teachers and 10 college instructors via semi-structured interviews. A six-phase thematic analysis will be used to identify patterns and report themes that emerge from the interview data. 

The results of this study may have a positive impact on social change as it will provide insights into how teacher education programs shape instructional practices in the science classroom.