The Impact of Self-Perception on a First Grade Writer

Abstract

This qualitative study with one first grade writer investigated how the home and school environments influence one’s self-perception as a writer. The study also explored the various ways self-perception impacts one’s overall writing. Audio recording, observations of writing experiences in the home, interviews, and various writing surveys with the first grader and his family captured the process of how one’s self-perception impacts writing. Interviews and various writing surveys were administered and compared to gain insight to the student’s beliefs about writing and himself as a writer. The first grade student demonstrated his ability to self-assess his personal writing, which enhanced his overall understanding of the writing process and his self-perception as a writer. The implications from this study are that writing beliefs derive from home and school environments. If writing experiences are not authentic, purposeful, and reflected upon, one will not internalize the necessary skills needed to maintain a positive self-perception as a writer.