Writing and Writing Instruction in Different Academic Contexts
CLEARING THE WAY FOR SUCCESSFUL WRITING PEDAGOGIES IN A TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM
Barbara Elaine McNeil
Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Regina, Canada
In an influential article, Bruinsma (2006) questioned whether preservice elementary language arts teachers are being adequately prepared to teach writing in their teacher education programs. Bruinsma’s work along with Reid’s (2009) ideas about teaching writing teachers, contributed to a critical interrogation of our practices as a writing teacher. With the view that writing is an essential component of literacy that all elementary and many secondary school teachers are required to teach, I changed my courses to give writing an even more prominent place in our teacher preparation program. This paper is based on transformative pedagogical changes made in the teaching of writing over the last three years. Guided by Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural theory of learning, which suggests that writing is a social practice developed between people and with the support of more knowledgeable others, my students and I turned to the work of Gallagher (2006) and Romano (1987) to become more agentic in our teaching, strengthen students’ identities as writers, and empower them as emerging teachers of writing. This presentation addresses challenges and questions associated with clearing the way to: (1) provide daily inclass writing opportunities for students, (2) increase students’ understanding and critique of writing pedagogies, (3) implement writing workshop, (4) try a variety of writing strategies and texttypes through group presentations, (5) respond to literature, and (6) to reflect on writing and on learning about writing.
References
Bruinsma, R 2006, ‘Are they ready to teach reading and writing? The preparation of preservice elementary language arts teachers in Canadian universities’, Alberta Journal of Educational Research , vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 99102.
Gallagher, K 2006, Teaching adolescent writers , Stenhouse Publishers, Portland, ME.
Romano, T 1987, Clearing the way: working with adolescent writers , Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH.
Reid, E 2009, ‘Teaching writing teachers writing: difficulty, exploration, and critical reflection’, College Composition and Communication , vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 197221.
Vygotsky, L 1978, Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes . Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.