Researching Readers and Writers: The Role of Serendipity

I trace here three case studies of readers and writers: third grade children participating in a Writing Workshop, fourth grade vulnerable readers in a tutoring setting, and adults with major mental illness interacting in a writers’ group. Specifically, I collected and analyzed data related to students extending a classroom practice called Class Meeting (during which they shared concerns and compliments) into the writing workshop context; expanding the focus of tutoring practice from children who struggled with comprehension of text to include those with English vocabulary and decoding issues; and changes when I moved from a participant in, to facilitator of, the writers’ group. Along the way, much of what I did was in response to events over which I had little control, so I highlight here the positive role of serendipity in the research process. I argue that it is important for researchers to develop clear plans but also to be flexible in executing those plans.