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Involvement and enthusiasm are the key factors
for bringing out a markedly different
performance from the employees of any organization. We are all aware of the fact
that people are the assets of any outfit. But mere numbers will not add any value if the workforce
is not charged up and enthusiastic at work.
According to a research based on sociocultural theory, we can focus on children's
classroom-based collaborative creative writing.
The central aim of the reported research was to contribute to our understanding of
young children's creativity, and describe ways in which peer collaboration can
resource, stimulate and enhance classroom-based creative writing activities. The study drew
on longitudinal observations of ongoing activities in Year 3 and Year 4 classrooms (children
aged 7-9) in England. The collaborative creative writing activities of selected pairs
were observed and recorded using video and audio equipment in the literacy classroom and in
the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) suite (13 pairs, about 2-4 occasions each).
The research built on the contextualized, qualitative analysis of the social and
cognitive processes connected to the shared creative
text composition. Using an analytic tool developed specifically for creative writing tasks,
collaborative and discursive features were linked to
cognitive processes associated with writing
(`engagement' and `reflection'). The research identified
discourse patterns and collaborative strategies
which facilitated `sharedness' and, thus, supported
joint creative writing activities.
The research brings out two significant aspects of the observed paired creative writing
discourse. It reports the significance of emotions
throughout the shared creative writing episodes,
including joint reviewing. Also, it shows children's
reliance on collaborative floor, with discourse building
on interruptions and overlaps. It can be argued
that such use of the collaborative floor was
indicative of joint focus and intense sharing,
thus, facilitating mutual inspiration in the
content generation phases of the children's
writing activities. These findings have implications
for both educational research and practice, contributing to our understanding of how
peer interaction can be used to resource
school-based creative activities. |
