Perceptions of High School Science and Social Studies teachers on writing as a learning strategy : a case study

Abstract

Writing is a skill that is required of every literate individual; however, it has been found in the United States that high school graduates are not ready for college writing and many employees are unable to meet work demands that involve writing. Additionally, despite the abundance of writing-to-learn materials and literature on the benefits of writing to student learning, very few teachers incorporate writing in their respective content areas. This study endeavored to find out high school science and social studies teachers‘ perceptions on writing and integrating writing in their classes to understand whether their perceptions influence their teaching practices. Individual interviews were conducted among 18 high school science and social studies teachers—from four outstanding high schools in Guimaras and Iloilo, as recommended by the local Department of Education office(s). Data analysis showed that the perceptions of the teachers on writing did not greatly affect their teaching practices, particularly their incorporation of writing activities in their classes. However, it was found that teachers‘ insufficient knowledge about writing-to-learn and writing across the curriculum influenced the types of writing activities that they employed in their classes. Teachers from one of the high schools in the city were found to provide the most content-rich information in their interview answers, but their perceptions on writing and their incorporation of writing activities in their class did not greatly differ from those of the other teachers involved in this study. Recommendations were given to different groups of individuals with the purpose of equipping teachers with the knowledge of writing-to-learn strategies and to encourage teachers to implement more and better writing activities in their classes.