Moore, T: Writing from a Vygotskian Perspective

This study examined the literate products and practices of children at an after school computer club known as Club Proteo. The participants in this study were children at a local after school computer club for children whose ages ranged from 5 to 12 years old. The analysis was grounded on a cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), coupled with a New Literacies Study (NLS) approach to literacy. I used an ethnographic approach (Spradley, 1980) to gather and analyze data regarding the participants literate practices and the literate products over the course of one academic year (September 2001 through June 2002). Over these nine-months, 567 children‘s writing products and 719 undergraduate fieldnotes were collected. Results of the study bring to light the magnitude and range of literate practices and products at Club Proteo as tied to the larger social structure and practices of the club during the target year. Also, results suggest the importance of adult roles in children s in writing. This study offers a paradigm for further examination of writing at Club Proteo and at other after school environments.