Presentation and Analysis of Data

As mentioned earlier, the main reason to start this study was to find out more about students

attitudes towards writing and then use the writing workshop approach to address those needs.

This study is considered as an instrumental case study where the three research participants

facilitate in understanding this problem in detail and then facilitate in understanding how the

writing workshop works in practice and to what extent it addresses the needs of the three

research participants. The study sought to look in detail the cognitive, linguistic, affective and

social needs in relation to writing needs and specifically address in what ways the writing

workshop approach met the different writing needs.

One of the crucial principles of reporting a case study mentioned by Schoch (2019, p. 255) is

that the reporting of data should be separated from the interpretation of data. Reporting is

presenting the facts related to what is seen and what happened, whereas interpretation is

finding meaning in the data. The evidence presented must not only be sufficient and relevant,

but also neutral in terms of supporting and challenging investigator’s conclusion so that the

readers can judge independently the researcher’s interpretations that come later (Yin, 2011, p.

15, 2009, p. 188). However, neutrality might be a bit arduous because in qualitative research

the researcher is the interviewer, administer of surveys, reviewer and analyser of documents

and observer of the study which makes the researcher less separated from the object of the

study. This means that the researcher must exercise caution to prevent bias or the temptation

to unfairly affect the method or outcome of the study (Schoch, 2019, p. 256). In order to

mitigate possible bias, triangulation of data can be employed. This is the process of using

multiple perceptions to clarify meaning and to make our findings as robust as possible. It is

the establishment of converging lines of evidence where three or more independent sources

all point at the same set of events, facts or interpretations (Stake, 2003, p. 148; Yin, 2011, p.
13). To get meanings straight and to be more confident that the evidence is good, researchers

must develop various habits of triangulation, which involves looking at the data several

times, or looking at it from more than one vantage point or even member checking where the

participants’ quotes are checked further. It is a form of confirmation, validation and also

differentiation to makes us feel more confident about our findings and interpretations (Stake,

2010, pp. 123–124).

Keeping in line with the advice above, this section is a four-part discussion where the first

part exclusively presents the data that was collected to find out more about the writing needs

of the three research participants. The second part analyses this data through triangulation.

The first two parts stem from the first cycle of data collection and analysis. The third part

exclusively presents the data that was collected to find out more about the impact of the

writing workshop approach on these needs and some other emerging needs of the three

research participants. And the fourth part analyses and interprets this data to find out the

extent to which these needs were met. The third and the fourth part stems from the second

and the third cycle of data collection and analysis.

8.1 Presenting students’ writing needs

To understand the writing needs of the three research participants, data was collected through

different sources. First, a questionnaire was given to the three research participants. The

survey had questions related to writing and each question gave an idea of needs either related

to linguistic, cognitive, affective or social or a combination. Although surveys are usually

done anonymously, in this study this was done otherwise because in-depth information about

the writing needs of these three students forms the basis of this case study and hence
anonymity would have made it difficult to draw conclusions about their needs. The response

from the three research participants is summarised in table (__) below.

Questions Needs Lydia Zara Mark

1. Do you like writing in English? All Yes It’s okay Love it
2. How does it make you feel when Affective Bored Bored Ok
you write at school?
3. Do you think you are a good Affective Yes No Yes
writer?
4. Do you wish you were better at Affective Yes Yes Yes
writing?
5. I can think of many creative ideas Cognitive/ No Yes- only Yes
when I start writing. I don’t need Linguistic if the topic
help in generating ideas. is
interesting
6. I can use less common vocabulary Linguistic No No No
in my writing.
7. I like to have friends read what I Social No Only close I don’t
have written. friends know
8. I like it when my friends suggest Social No Yes No
any changes to my writing.
9. I struggle with spellings while Linguistic Yes No No
writing.
10. I can organize my ideas clearly in Cognitive/ Yes Yes I don’t
my writing. Linguistic know
11. I always check my written work Cognitive/ Yes Yes Yes
for mistakes before turning it in. Linguistic
12. I can write for long period of time Cognitive No No No
without getting distracted.
13. I use online resources for help Cognitive/ Yes Yes- I don’t
when I don’t understand anything. Linguistic always know
14. I am self-motivated to complete Affective Yes No I don’t
my written assignments. know
15. Is there anything in writing that All Spellings Thinking Writing in
you struggle with? of ideas paragraphs

The table shows the students’ answers and similar answers have been highlighted to show

patterns. There are some variations in the answers, but all the students have answered the last

question which asks about what they struggle with while writing.
When the parents of the three research participants agreed to enrol their child in the writing

workshop, they were given a questionnaire which had questions related to the attitudes of

their child towards writing. Their response is summarised in table (__) below.

Questions Lydia’s Mum Zara’s Mum Mark’s Mum

1. In my opinion, my child Yes Yes No- He has no
enjoys writing. interest in creative
writing
2. My child chooses to No- Verbally she No- She loves No- With
write at home in his/her is good but not in to draw and technological
free time. writing paint. advancement,
children are inclined
on doing other
activities- online
gaming, social media
3. Most of the time, I don’t Agree Agree- I think Disagree- He doesn't
need to help my child at this age they want to write but he is
with creative ideas for should write very creative.
writing. whatever
comes in their
imagination
then I can
guide them.
4. My child doesn’t need Agree Agree Agree- most of the
help with Writing time, he doesn’t
homework. understand the
question
5. My child reviews his/her Disagree- she Disagree Disagree- this is the
written work after doesn’t want to main problem
writing.
6. My child always Yes- So they can Yes Yes- Homework he
completes his/her play as much as does on time but extra
writing homework on they want writing he doesn't
time. like.
7. My child doesn’t feel Agree Agree Agree
anxious about the
writing exam.
8. Whenever my child Agree Agree Agree
faces a problem with
writing, he/she seeks
help (through digital
resources or asking an
adult).
9. My child often feels Agree- She Agree- They Agree- Sometimes he
proud of his/her written always wants me love to writes very good
 work. to read it out loud material.
10. I don’t need to motivate Disagree Disagree- Disagree- As he don't
my child to do his/her Sometimes want write so I need
writing homework. She is tired or to push him.
not in the
mood.
11. Why would you like The word writing Because she is He is always playing
your child to join the interests me. I in higher grade on PS4, through this
Writing workshop? think she will now and she workshop his writing
write more and needs to learn will improve. He
become better at to write more writes slowly.
it. as she will
need this in her
secondary
classes

The table shows that all the three parents think that writing is important for their child, but

they also know that t

After the students completed the survey, they were interviewed. The interviews were short

and the audio script is attached in appendix __. During the interview, some of the questions

from the survey were chosen in order to find out more about their reasons for the options

chosen. The interview shows how well-aware the students are about their own writing. This is

something strikingly surprising for me because I thought these three students are too young

and lack self-reflection skills.

Finally, a diagnostic lesson was conducted where the students were shown a picture and were

asked to write a story. Learner writing samples were collected (Appendix ___) and some field

notes were made by me while observing. These field notes show my perspective of the

scenario. (attach appendix of field notes from diagnostic lesson)

8.2 Analysis of writing needs

Case study analysis involves making detailed description of the case and the setting

(Creswell, 2013, p. 199). While there are many different forms of data analysis and

interpretation in case study research, for this study I have used Stake’s (1995, p. 74,78)

categorical aggregation where instances are aggregated from multiple sources of data to

formulate issue-relevant meanings and establish patterns by looking for correspondence

between two or more categories and Yin’s (2009, p. 156) cross-case synthesis where multiple

cases are analysed to look for differences and similarities. This analysis primarily involves

triangulation, where I have used multiple sources to corroborate evidence to shed light on a

perspective (Creswell, 2013, p. 251). Another important aspect of the needs analysis section

is my past experience with these three research participants. Yin (2011, p. 16) states that

when creating a research question, some researchers make some key assumptions or start

with a predicted pattern and use cases to derive more general lessons. In section 5 of this

dissertation, background information about the three research participants was already given

based on my past experience of tutoring them. In this analysis, I will not only triangulate the

data collected from different sources, but also compare my initial understanding of them to

the data collected. This will give a better understanding of the problem and contextualize the

data. I will analyse the needs of each research participant separately and then draw a list of

the needs that were prioritised to be addressed.

These three categori for building professional profiles of these participants’ are
not mutually exclusive. Although I have created three categories for analysis, it is not as simple
as this. Because human beings are the focus of this project, and their psyches in regard to
teaching writing methods courses are being explored, in no way can one identified strand of
influence, such as ‘teaching context,’ be deemed separate or unrelated to another influence on the
teaching of the course, such as ‘perspectives on teaching.’ Each of these categories informs the
others in ways that are beyond the scope of this project. Therefore, these categories are being
used only to help share the rich and complex stories of these well-known English educators, as
they provide a language and lens through which to appreciate the stories. These categories will be
referred to throughout the remainder of this chapter and subsequent chapters in discussing the
ways participants’ teaching contexts, professional journeys, perspectives on teaching writing and
teaching writing teachers inform the writing methods courses that participants teach. Conversely,
the ways in which the courses themselves interact to create and inform participants’ teaching
contexts, professional journeys, and perspectives will also be discussed.
I will now outline the specific format I will use in sharing these stories. Each participant is first

introduced through an analysis of the metaphor used to title their story. A synopsis of each

individual participant’s current professional and teaching context then serves as a prequel to a

narrative account of his or her professional journey. (See “Teaching Context” in Figure 3.2).

Next, the individual’s narrative highlighting how he or she came to this current professional

context is relayed, reflecting the categories ‘professional journey’ and ‘perspectives on teaching,

writing, and teaching writing and writing teachers’ (See “Professional Journey” and

“Perspectives on Teaching” in Figure 3.2). In the interest of respecting participants’ anonymity,

pseudonyms are used in place of potentially identifying people, places, and things in this chapter

and all subsequent chapters.

Lydia:
Lydia is the youngest in the group. She thinks writing is enjoyable and fun. One of the main
reasons for this is her handwriting. Lydia's handwriting is not only her strength in writing, but
also something that has a positive impact on her attitude towards writing. In the interview,
when asked about why she thinks she is a good writer, she said "because my teacher says I
have the best handwriting." Although this could also mean that for her writing means hand
writing or orthography and not the other skills and sub-skills of writing, it is evident that her
handwriting has a positive effect on her writing. “ADD QUOTE” However, Lydia’s major
linguistic need identified through all the different sources of data collection is spellings. She
often struggles with spellings while writing and this has a negative impact on the social
aspect of writing as she says, "They (my friends) comment on my spellings and I don’t like it
when they do that." Based on my past experience of teaching her, this hasn't changed much;
however, the only difference is that now she mostly has problems with non-decodable words
that do not follow the phonological rules. During the diagnostic writing lesson, she came to
me many times asking for spellings, but each time she came I sent her back encouraging her
to write what she knows. This means that a little encouragement from the teacher helps her to
try on her own rather than rely on support. “ADD QUOTE” Lydia uses “and” a lot in her
writing. This is linked to her speaking because whenever she used to tell stories, she used
“and then” a lot. “ADD QUOTE” Although when she was 7 years old, I never pointed this
out, but I believe discourse markers is an area that she should work on now. During the
diagnostic lesson, I observed that she is well-focussed, which means her attention span has
improved a lot. She was very engaged while writing as her writing shows that she wrote a
number of sentences in 20 minutes. “ADD QUOTE” Although, she found it difficult to start,
once given help by Zara, she tried her best to write. “ADD QUOTE” As mentioned earlier,
Lydia has an outgoing personality, which makes her confident in speaking. Therefore she
wasn’t shy in asking for help or sharing her opinions during the interview. “ADD QUOTE”
Research supports the belief that students are able to produce best when they are allowed to
choose their topics and materials and are free to write at their own developmental level. The writing
workshop provides the perfect atmosphere for this as writers are allowed to write and share about
subjects that are meaningful to them while inherently gaining the skills of proficient writers. (pg 23-
24) Graves (1984, cited in …17-18) conducted a study on writing processes in formal and informal
classroom setting. This formality was based on the degree to which children can work without
explicit instrcutions from the teacher and the amount of choiuce they had in the learning activities.
he concluded from th study that informal environemts that gave greater choice to children allowed
children to write when they want because they were more motivated to write.

8.3 Priorities and Justification

The second section reveals how Sarah interacted and

formed relationships with students. Arrien's (1993)
theory on the Way of the Healer is used as a framework
for the data in this section. The third section
describes a variety of teaching strategies employed by
the teacher participant. Finally, the fourth section
discusses Sarah's beliefs and values which
guide her practices with students.
Lydia’s mother seemed very concerned about her
daughter’s writing ability as she said, “…”
Although Lydia’s mother doesn’t expect a lot a very
expectation from her child, she just wants Lydia to be
able to write a bit more fluently.

Zoya:
Zoya is 10 years old and goes to an international
school where the language of instruction is English.
Her writing