'You can write whatever you want': exploring the relationship between student self-concept and creative writing practices

Thesis

This project sought to investigate whether guided creative writing processes can have an impact on students’ self-concept in domains related to the topics about which they are writing. To investigate this, a creative writing project focused on prose science fiction was designed and delivered to a class group of secondary school students in Dublin, Ireland. A second class group from the same school took part in a poetry writing project and served as the control group for this study. A questionnaire to measure self-concept in two domains (creative and scientific) was delivered to both groups before and after the intervention. Results were to be triangulated using semi-structured interviews with participants in the intervention group and the adult collaborators who worked with them but, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, these could not be completed. Due to the disrupted research, conclusions could not be drawn from the data collected. An evaluation of the intervention design, however, indicates that it satisfied most of the criteria suggested by the literature review and that a repeat investigation, when circumstances allow, is warranted.

Authors: Devine, R

• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: MLT 2020; MLT
• Subjects: Education