About the project

This British Academy-funded research project investigated children’s narrative writing with digital resources and apps between 22 August 2022 and 31 July 2024. 

A three-stage research design was planned as a sequential qualitative study. The aim was for the data collected from these stages to lead to the construction of up to three ‘Telling Cases’, that would describe how teachers in particular classroom settings use digital resources and apps to support children’s narrative writing; and how children’s engagement and enjoyment are impacted by the introduction of these resources, into their teachers’ pedagogies.  

The three stages involved in this study included a teacher survey, a teacher participatory planning workshop, and field work in the classrooms of local teachers, who had attended the planning workshop.  

Stage 1: Survey 

Between December 2022 – January 2023, teachers in the University of Exeter Partnership and teacher members of the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) were invited to participate in a teacher survey find out how digital resources and apps are used by teachers to promote children’s narrative writing. As well as collecting demographic data, this survey explored the pedagogies and resources used by teachers to promote narrative writing, and teacher perceptions about the impact of resources and approaches on children’s enjoyment and engagement. In addition, it sought to establish which, if any, digital resources teachers used to teach narrative writing, and the extent of their use.  

Stage 2: Teacher participatory planning workshop 

In March 2023, three teachers identified from the survey were invited to attend a one-day participatory planning workshop. The aim of this workshop was to help the research team understand more about the teachers’ particular process for teaching narrative writing involving digital resources, and to also explore the potential for digital resources to be used by teachers, to develop children’s narrative writing, in such a way that engagement and enjoyment is promoted. During this workshop, teachers shared experiences and explored some digital resources. 

Following this workshop, two teachers agreed to work with us to develop units of work that incorporated digital resources and apps into their writing pedagogy. 

Stage 3: Classroom observation to build ‘Telling Case’ Studies  

In June – July 2023, the research team visited two schools to observe units of work being taught, where digital resources and apps were integrated into the unit, as a way of seeking to promote children’s enjoyment and engagement in their narrative writing. The aim of these visits was to build a rich and detailed account of this process. To achieve this, we visited and observed the equivalent of four narrative writing lessons in each setting (6-9 hours) to observe the teacher and children at work. We made fieldnotes and collected photographic and video data. We were given copies of the teachers’ planning materials and access to children’s work, while they were working. During the vsiits, we talked to the teachers. Overall we collected rich ethnographic-style data, to support the construction of two ‘Telling Cases’ that could be used as a basis for proposing pedagogic principles for developing children’s narrative writing using digital resources and apps. 

Research Objectives 

1. To survey up to 100 primary school teachers to identify the principles informing their narrative writing pedagogy, and to identify the digital resources they are familiar with or use in their professional work to support children’s narrative writing. 
2. To organise and lead a collaborative planning workshop with 3 primary school teachers and their Teaching Assistants to explore how children’s narrative writing development can be supported, using digital resources.
3. To construct up to 3 ‘Telling Case’ Studies that describe how the introduction of digital resources impacts the participants’ pedagogy and their children’s narrative writing.
4. To develop and share best practice and pedagogic principles for developing children’s narrative writing using digital resources and apps within the local Partner Research Community and ITE Partnership members.
5. To disseminate findings nationally and internationally amongst literacy educators, researchers and policy makers, to contribute to the scholarship on writing pedagogy in evolving digital contexts.