Children becoming readers, writers, or both? Caregiver perspectives on connections and imbalances in children’s reading and writing identities

Abstract This study examines the interrelationship of reading and writing in elementary grade children through an identity perspective to explore children’s broader processes of literacy learning and becoming in a climate where reading and writing instruction are not consistently given equal attention. Attention to identities opens space for complexity in the reading-writing dynamic and for considering the simultaneous development of children as readers and writers. This qualitative study uses interviews with caregivers in the United States to collect information on children’s reading and writing identities across grades K-5. A content analysis of the interviews was guided by thematic analysis to explore possible connections and imbalances in children’s reading and writing development. Findings provide insights into emerging differences in children’s reading and writing identities in the elementary grades, and the potential impacts of these differences on children’s trajectories as readers and writers. This study points to the importance of attending to reading and writing identities as related and distinct constructs in research on literacy, and to the value of identity approaches for informing research and instructional practices on reading and writing.