(Re)imagining Writers and Writing: The End of the Book and the Beginning of Writing

Abstract

We think with several theoretical concepts from Jacques Derrida (defer, différance, deconstruction, and trace), in order to better understand how the processes of children, materials, and a teacher (re)defined and (re)imagined writing when they began to compose with a range of tools as writers in a second grade (7- to 8-year-olds) Writers’ Studio. We share two literacy desirings: (1) Cotton Ball Bird and (2) Paper Monsters. Thinking with Derrida’s theory is important, as it causes us to examine the processes of literacies coming into being, not solely the end products or artifacts of literacy nor simply a focus on knowledge or meaning-making. Derrida’s theory is about the now, the current realities and relationships produced and provides inspiration for how educators can work with children (and materials, time, and space) to create new ways of be(com)ing/doing/knowing literacies.

Keywords

writing Derrida poststructural theory early childhood pedagogy

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