Elementary school children's conceptions of teaching and learning to write as intentional activities

Abstract

We study children's conceptions of teaching and learning to write as intentional activities. Sixty elementary school children in First, Fourth and Seventh Grade were interviewed individually following a structured script of open questions. Based on the Grounded Theory, a system of analysis composed of first- and second-order intentional actions for teacher and learner was developed and applied to children's full responses. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses were conducted. We identified five response patterns in children's explanations showing complementary interactions between teacher and learner, which remind us of instructional cultural learning. Patterns progress according to the order of intentionality of teacher's and learner's actions mentioned, the variety of actions covered and the frequency in which they appeared throughout the interview. This progress is moderately associated to school grade. These findings encourage educational design and practice to take into consideration children's views of intentionality of teaching and learning school contents.