Pedagogy in practice: an exploration of writing instruction in a high school english language arts classroom

This study sheds light on the practice of one Albertan high school English teacher over one semester as she instructs her students through the multidimensional practice of writing. In this single case study, teacher practice is compared to a model of writing pedagogies to answer two questions. First, what pedagogical understandings are embedded in the practice of writing instruction of a high school English Language Arts teacher? Second, how do key pedagogical understandings guide the writing instruction of that same teacher? Using a thematic analysis of data, what is discovered is that writing pedagogy appears frequently, but although present, are not the primary guiding force for writing instruction. What we are left with are probing questions that necessitate further study into what teachers know about writing pedagogy, how it is used, and how our systems can better inform and prepare teachers to utilize them in their classrooms