Found Poetry: a Tool for Supporting Novice Poets and Fostering Transactional Relationships Between Prospective Teachers and Young Adult Literature
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Found Poetry: A Tool for Supporting Novice Poets and Fostering Transactional Relationships Between Prospective Teachers and Young Adult Literature DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Lisa Patrick, M.A. Graduate Program in Education The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Barbara Kiefer, Advisor Barbara Lehman Linda Parsons Copyright by Lisa Patrick 2013 Abstract The purpose of this qualitative classroom-based dissertation study is to examine what happens when prospective teachers write found poetry using young adult literature. Found poetry is a poetic form created by reframing words from the linguistic environment surrounding the poet. In this study, the participants wrote found poems using words from a novel of their choice that they had read for the teacher researcher’s course on young adult literature at a major Midwest university. Found poetry was investigated as a means for supporting novice poets in their writing efforts; readers in their transactional relationships with texts; and prospective teachers in their confidence and attitudes toward their future teaching of poetry writing. The primary data collected for the dissertation consisted of an extensive in-class written reflection over the found poetry writing project. Attride-Stirling’s (2001) thematic networks tool was used to analyze and interpret the data. Found data poems were created from the words of study participants in order to represent the thematic findings, as well as to seek congruence across multiple forms of data analysis and representation. The first research question asks how writing found poetry might support novice poets. After the found poetry writing experience, all of the novice poets reported positive feelings for their poem, and many expressed a sense of pride in their poetic accomplishment. The accessible and structured approach of using words from the text for a poem supported the novice poets and lessened their anxiety and worry over writing ii poetry. The majority of the participants favorably compared the found poetry writing experience to past school poetry writing experiences. They reported a shift in poetic self- efficacy, becoming much more comfortable and confident in their role as poets. The second research question asks how writing found poetry might support reader/text transactional relationships. Writing found poetry positively impacted every participant’s relationship with the text chosen for the poem, as well as their reflections upon the reading experience. The search for words for the poem returned readers to the text, where they revisited the reading experience and reread portions of the book. These activities impacted readers’ awareness of the text and their understanding of literary elements. The poetic writing process strengthened and extended the reading experience and enriched the overall quality of the readers’ relationship with the book chosen for the found poem. The third research question asks how writing found poetry might support prospective teachers of poetry. Found poetry provided prospective poetry teachers with support for their future teaching responsibilities. Becoming a poet in practice shifted their confidence and attitudes toward these responsibilities. The prospective teachers pointed to found poetry’s accessibility and usability, as well as its suitability for introducing students to poetry and supporting them as readers, as advantageous attributes for using the poetic form with their future students. Taken as a whole, the found poetry experience supported the writing efforts of the novice poets; transformed the nature of the readers’ transactional relationships with texts; and positively impacted the prospective teachers’ confidence and attitudes toward teaching poetry writing. iii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of Louise M. Rosenblatt, for how could it be otherwise? This dedication to a brilliant theorist, scholar, and teacher “inadequately symbolizes a most important transactional relationship” (Rosenblatt, 1978/1994, p. xv). I have been infinitely inspired by Dr. Rosenblatt’s lifetime devotion to nurturing transactional relationships between readers and texts. I pledge to do the same. This dissertation is also dedicated to the students who took part in the study. My research would not have been possible without their willingness to participate and generosity in allowing me a glimpse into their reading and writing experiences. iv Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful to the members of my dissertation committee: Dr. Barbara Kiefer, thank you for your support as my advisor. I am grateful for the Charlotte S. Huck Graduate Associate appointment. It was an honor to unpack and organize the Huck historical collection. I am especially grateful for the opportunity to teach so many children’s and young adult literature classes at OSU. These teaching experiences have been an integral part of my dissertation research. Thank you also for creating space in your fantasy class for me to become a found poet. Finally, thank you for being a literature professor who encourages her students to read. Dr. Barbara Lehman, thank you for introducing me to South African children’s literature. As well, you have been a powerful source of support. I am exceedingly grateful for your willingness to act as a resource to your students. Thank you for your quick response to every appeal for guidance throughout the candidacy and dissertation phases of my doctoral work. Dr. Linda Parsons, thank you for teaching me literary theory and content analysis. I am indebted to you for introducing me to the colorful world of thematic networks. I am tremendously grateful for your mentorship in both my work as a student and as a scholar. Thank you so much for that first invitation to present with you at a literacy conference. Five minutes in, I knew I’d found a kindred spirit in you. v Three professors have had a significant impact on my graduate path: Dr. Valerie Kinloch, thank you for your service on my candidacy committee. I am extremely grateful for your insightful guidance on my dissertation topic. As well, I am indebted to you for introducing me to the art of found poetry. Thank you for playing such a meaningful role in my graduate journey, both as a teacher and as a mentor. Dr. Patricia Scharer, thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Graduate Administrative Associate. It was an honor to act as the legs of such a diligent advocate for children’s literacy. Thank you also for introducing me to the National Reading Recovery and K-6 Classroom Literacy Conference. Dr. Amy McClure, thank you for offering me my first academic job as a student teaching supervisor at Ohio Wesleyan University. I am enormously grateful that you started me on the path to becoming a professor. I am also indebted to you for opening the field of education to poetry research with your seminal dissertation (McClure, 1985). The Ohio State University and its students were instrumental in making this dissertation a possibility: I gratefully acknowledge the Graduate Teaching Associate appointment from The Ohio State University’s Department of Teaching and Learning that afforded me the opportunity to conduct dissertation research in a university classroom. I also gratefully acknowledge the students from my Ohio State University courses who participated in this dissertation study. Without your generous willingness to share your reflections upon the found poetry writing experience, there would have been no dissertation. vi Friends and family have been instrumental in the success of my dissertation journey: Dr. Denise Dávila, the camaraderie in our cohort of two enriched and vitalized my graduate experience. Thank you for your friendship and for paving the way. I am also immensely grateful for your encouraging and insightful feedback on my found data poems. A famous quote from E. B. White’s (1952/1980) Charlotte’s Web reads: “It’s not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both” (p. 184). Joy, I am very grateful that you came along: a true friend and a good editor. Thank you for your generous gift of time and expertise. Cailyn, graphic designer extraordinaire, thank you for bringing my thematic networks to life. I am most grateful for your time and assistance. Mom, you are, and always will be, the source of my inspiration. Thank you for always believing that I can get the job done. I am truly blessed with you as my mother. Joli, you are my role model for successfully balancing work and family. Thank you for your sisterly encouragement and wise words right when I always need them. Finally, the long days of teaching and even longer nights of writing would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my husband and two daughters. Mike, Riley, and Mackenzie, you made the journey worthwhile. It means nothing without you three by my side. Mike, thank you also for finding and funding my office away from home. This dissertation would never have been completed without my writing haven. vii Vita 1988…………………B.A. in Education: Elementary Education Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 1988-1995 ..…………Fourth and Fifth Grade Classroom Teacher Victor Falls Elementary School, Sumner, WA 1991…………………M.A. in Education: Curriculum and Instruction Lesley University, Cambridge, MA 2002-2003…………...Preschool Teacher, The School for Young Children Columbus, OH 2005-2007…………...Supervisor of Early Childhood Student Teaching Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH 2007-2009…………..Assistant Director of Early Childhood Student Teaching Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH 2007-2009…………...Instructor in Early Childhood Education Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH 2009-2013…………..Graduate Teaching Associate, School of Teaching and Learning The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 2013…………………Ph.D. in Education: Literature for Children and Young Adults School of Teaching and Learning, The Ohio State University Columbus, OH viii Publications Books: Editorial Assistance Kiefer, B. Z., & Tyson, C.