GRANT
Is writing something for me?
Many students fail in becoming good scribes in Danish compulsory school. A new research project focuses on the development of students' writing skills.
Professor Nikolaj Elf and Associate Professor Vibeke Christensen from the Centre for Basic Education Research have received a DKK 6 million grant from Independent Research Fund Denmark for the project “Writer identity and writing development in grades 6-7: An explorative study of student writing in Danish as a school subject”.
Writing is an important skill in learning and a prerequisite for active participation in school and education. It is a skill that children will need for their future education, work and leisure life, and it is a key part of literacy development.
Writing does not seem meaningful.
International research shows that some students do not find writing meaningful and that they lack the sense of having mastered it. About 1/7 of a year group leaves primary school without having achieved sufficient proficiency in writing, and this has an impact on their possibilities for continuing further education afterwards.
Students' writing development proceeds differently, and the project therefore examines student groups that have various experiences with writing. Some write a lot, both at school and in their spare time, others only when tasks require it.
We don’t know enough about students' writing development.
Our knowledge of what affects or can improve students' writing development in grades 6-7, especially in a Danish context, is limited. The project aims to change this. In the project, there will be a special focus on writing lessons, feedback activities and students' experiences with writing outside school.
The project develops a theoretical model for writing development in the subject Danish, which can be used by teachers, managers and researchers to strengthen all students' writing and subsequent opportunities for democratic participation in society.
The project is carried out in close collaboration with practitioners, i.e. in collaboration with several schools and with the participation of researchers from VIA University College in Aarhus and University College Copenhagen (KP).