Date of Award

Fall 12-2010

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Chair

John R. Rachal

Committee Chair Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Member 2

Kyna Shelley

Committee Member 2 Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Member 3

William L. Pierce

Committee Member 3 Department

Educational Studies and Research

Committee Member 4

Gary Peters

Committee Member 4 Department

Educational Leadership and School Counseling

Abstract

This study examines how older adults experience the phenomenon of participating in a writing workshop and how older adults interpret their experiences, understandings, and realities of writing. Ten older adults, ranging in age from 62 to 83 with varying degrees of experiences in writing, participated in this study. Through a semi-structured interview, each participant related his or her experience first as a writer and then as a member of a writing workshop offered through a Community Literacy Center in a mid-sized Appalachian city.

A phenomenological analysis method was used to identify and analyze themes of meaning that emerged in the interview data. Those themes of meaning were then analyzed within a framework of writing workshop, self-directed learning, transformational learning, lifespan development, and successful aging theories.

The analysis identified eight essential themes of meaning. Three essential themes of meaning specifically applied to writing: Writing as a Vehicle for Thought, Writing as a Means of Challenge, Writing as a Record. Four essential themes of meaning were related to the experience of being in a writing workshop: The Writing Workshop as a Commitment, The Writing Workshop as an Affirmation, The Writing Workshop as Awareness, and The Writing Workshop as Community. The final theme applied equally to the experience of writing and being in a writing workshop, and it is Writing and The Writing Workshop as Enjoyment.

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