Dissertation

Critique
EDUC 846
Katie Mathew
 Dissertation Information
Title: Relationships Between Drawing and Early Writing as Conceptualized
by Prekindergarten Teachers

Author: Lois M. Delwiche Zamzow

University: The University of Wisconsin - Madison

Career: Professor at University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

Citation: Zamzow, L. M. D. (2014). Relationships Between Drawing And

Early Writing As Conceptualized By Prekindergarten Teachers. ProQuest
Dissertations Publishing.
 Dissertation Structure
Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Methodology

Chapter 3 Curriculum Rules: District Curricular Materials and

Teacher Talk About Early Writing

Chapter 4 Are Late-Bloomers Allowed? Curricular Constraints in the

New Prekindergarten

Chapter 5 Bad-Guy Ladybugs and Dinosaurs: Prekindergarten

Children Construct Meaning in Teacher-Directed Writing

Chapter 6 Conclusion
 Purpose
Dissertation Critique
“This study seeks to explore the Lack of description of
experience of prekindergarten “accountability challenges” - one
teachers and their students as they paragraph in the introduction
encounter new academic standards
and accountability challenges” (p.
1)
 Relevance
Dissertation
Critique
Article 1: The current study is important to better understand the
experience of four-year-old kindergarten children and teachers as Lack of overarching
academic standards and accountability are thrust upon them.
statement about
Article 2: This study seeks to fill the gap of how prekindergarten relevance of body
teachers cope with academic pushdown by naming the curricular of work
constraints identified by the teachers and describing the new
prekindergarten.

Article 3: Much can be learned when adults examine the process of

meaning construction, the drawing itself, and the conversation about
the finished pieces to notice what children are representing - their
interests, and concerns - in their drawings.
 Background Information
Dissertation Critique
Article 1: Drawing as Communication, Lack of scope on the issues that
Changing Early Childhood Practice surround early childhood literacy.
Article 2: Literacy as a Social Practice,
Emergent literacy
Article 3: Children as meaning makers,
Children’s drawings as communicative,
Approaches to studying children’s
drawings
 Theoretical Framework
Dissertation Critique
Vygotsky theory (1978) A pictorial framework would have
been helpful
● Multimodal perspectives
○ Communicative value of
drawings (Kress, 2010)
 Research Questions
Critique Dissertation
Double barreled How do prekindergarten teachers conceptualize relationships
between drawing and learning to write alongside current curricular
questions
constraints?

● Article 1: What are prekindergarten teachers’ perceptions of

the role of meaning in drawing and writing, and how have
Teacher / Children mandated curricular materials influenced teacher talk about
their students’ productions?
● Article 2: What curricular constraints have teachers identified
relative to the teaching of emergent writers and how are those
constraints manifested in practice?
● Article 3: How do prekindergartners construct meaning on
paper during teacher-directed writing activities?
 Research Design
Dissertation Critique

Design Multiple instrumental case study - Relies heavily on one reference

- Four cases: [teacher and (Stake, 1995) to describe and justify
classroom] case study
- Does not describe “instrumental”

Sample Four pre-kindergarten classes/ teachers - Diverse learners?

in one school district

Schools are different models but same

curriculum (public, private, national)

Subjects Four participant teachers - Description of student body at each

school
Fourteen focal children - Selection of teachers and students
(convenience)
- Self-selection of students to engage in
writing activities
 Research Design
Dissertation Critique

Trustworthiness Researcher Perspective - No member checking

- Weak description of coding process -
Multiple data sources issue with confirmability
- No clear description of audit trail
Prolonged engagement (February - - Weak description of context - issue
May?) with transferability

Analysis Semi-structured interviews - More detail about coding (codebook)

- Drawing-writings: sequence of marks
Discussions about drawing-writings is important to analysis - unclear how
she recorded this
Classroom observations and field notes

Artifacts

Document review of curriculum

 Results
Critique Dissertation
Vague Article 1: Curriculum steers teachers to think about
writing as correctness.
Article 2: Teaching practices have changed with
resulting tensions in three areas 1) mismatch between
vision of early childhood and realities of
prekindergarten, 2) controversial benchmarks for all
children and 3) kindergarten expectations.
Article 3: Each child went about making meaning in
their own way within the parameters established by
their teacher.
 Implications
Critique Dissertation
Mixed methods approach Article 1: Teachers should be
guided by developmentally
appropriate practices.
Article 2: Academic expectations
need to account for all learners.
Article 3: Children’s meaning
making should be recognized as
one of the many languages of
childhood.
Select Publications
Submitted Article 1 &2 to Journal of Early Childhood
Literacy
- Not published

Submitted Article 3 to Language Arts

- Not published

Compton-Lilly, C., Zamzow, L., Cheng, Y. F., Yu, M.,

Durón, A., Goralski-Cumbajin, B., Hagerman, D. & Quast,
E. (2015). Qualitative research: An introduction to methods
and designs [Book Review]. Connecting Research and
Practice for Professionals and Communities,
Volume 23 (1).