Centre for Research in Language and Literacy - Seminar with visiting scholar, Stine Heger

You are warmly invited to attend visiting scholar Stine Heger's presentation on children’s experiences with leisure writing in “author schools” in Denmark.

Abstract

In my PhD project, I explore children as creative writers. In extensive ethnographic field work I have studied children who spend their free time in “author schools” in Denmark. Here, the children write stories and poems, and professional authors teach them about writing, building plots and characters, playing with language, etc. I draw from rhetoric and writing research the fundamental understanding that being able to express yourself in writing is essential – not just for success in school and education but also beyond (Brandt, 2015; Cremin & Myhill, 2012; Fleming, 2016). Factors like identity, motivation, and engagement are vital to the development of strong writing skills. However, what kinds of writing instruction, teaching or writing practices can actually strengthen these factors, is scarcely researched (Boscolo & Hidi, 2007; Camacho, Alves & Boscolo, 2020; Nolen, 2007). My focus is the children’s perspectives (Spyrou, 2018) on participating in the Danish author schools: what it means for them to write and be writers, and what makes them enjoy writing. My overall research question is: What do children experience when they participate in voluntary out-of-school creative writing programs, and how could an understanding of these experiences contribute to discussions of writing in school settings? In my presentation, I will share some examples from my data with you, and discuss some of the analytical themes and arguments that I am currently working on. 

About Stine: Stine Heger is a PhD fellow at University of Aarhus in Denmark. She is MA of Danish and Rhetoric from University of Copenhagen and MA of Children’s Literature and Media from Aarhus University. Her current research combines writing studies and children’s literature studies in an explorative, ethnographic study of children who write outside of school in so-called author schools for children.