Minä kirjoittajana, lukio ympäristönä : näkökulmia kirjoittamisen opetukseen

Abstract

Writing cannot be separated from its environment. When a general upper secondary school student writes and studies writing, the school environment influences her activities. The aim of this qualitative and multidisciplinary research is to find out in what kind of context of writing Finnish general upper secondary school students operate while studying mother tongue and literature. The objective is to develop pedagogy of writing and to increase understanding about writing in general upper secondary school environment. The empirical research approaches writing from two perspectives, institution on the one hand and students on the other. The national core curriculum and matriculation examination represent the institutional view. The perspective of general upper secondary school students is reflected in essays on writing by the students. The first two sub-studies of the dissertation examine the discourses of writing in this data. The other two sub-studies analyse affordances of writing and what reflection means in upper secondary school students’ writings. In the light of the data, it seems that the teaching and assessment of writing is not based on just one discourse of writing, but the teaching has been quite diverse. However, there are more discourses in the curriculum than in the matriculation examination, which means that the exam does not fully match the curriculum. Students’ perceptions of writing, on the other hand, slightly differ from the perceptions of the institutional documents that guide teaching. According to the analysis, general upper secondary school writers are a heterogeneous group, but many writing problems are related to the same issues, such as the social aspects of writing, the writing process and assessment. Reflection and the process of self-understanding manifest in students’ writings in an effort to interact. In light of the research, it seems that reflective writing and consideration of the different conceptualizations of writing should be developed as a part of general upper secondary school writing instruction.