Public seminar on “Teachers’ Curricular Enactments in Writing Instruction” co-organised with The Yew Chung Education Foundation.

The Yew Chung Education Foundation and Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association – Hong Kong Chapter (PECERA-HK) are very pleased to be co-organizing a public seminar on “Teachers’ Curricular Enactments in Writing Instruction” by Professor Sarah J. McCarthey.

The qualitative study shows how 20 teachers from four districts in the same state in the US enacted mandated school-wide writing curricula. Analyses of the observations and interviews revealed that factors such as policies, professional development, and personal factors including previous writing experiences and philosophies influenced teachers’ enactments. While previous studies have found that overarching policies including No Child Left Behind increase pressure on teachers resulting in a lack of autonomy, our findings explore the ways that teachers were able to navigate their school contexts. The presentation will also overview US curricular policy and provide implications for curriculum and instruction in early childhood classrooms in global settings.
Professor Sarah McCarthey (Ph.D. Michigan State University) is the Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Director of Teacher Education for the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She facilitated efforts to redesign teacher education programs to address new state and national standards and accountability structures. She serves as Co-Director of the University of Illinois Writing Project, bringing together teachers for professional development. Her current study examines teacher education and professional development for writing instruction in global contexts. Professor McCarthey has been P. I. on projects funded by the Institute of Education Sciences to study innovation in writing assessment in technology environments. She was Co-PI on Postdoctoral training grants to support research on digital writing spaces. Professor McCarthey’s previous studies examined the impact of national policies and local contexts on teachers’ writing instruction and on ways students negotiated their identities as literacy learners. Her research has been published in Written Communication, the Handbook of Writing Research, Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Literacy Research, Research in the Teaching of English, Journal of Writing Research, and Pedagogies: An International Journal.