Soria Cornibert narrative audio story

Philosophy of Teaching Writing

Writing is an essential skill that reflects the mark of a competent citizen.  Any individual who has commendable writing skills has a greater potential of gaining civic competency, thus becoming more apt to be an active social participant in his or her country.  However, behind every piece of writing penned lies a philosophy.  Similarly, as teachers of writing teach, their writing philosophy will determine how and what they teach students and the experiences that they provide students with.

During the October 15, 2019 session of Promoting Writing in Primary Grades the concentration was "Developing a Writing Philosophy."   But what is a writing philosophy?  A writing philosophy is a set of reflective statements of one's personal belief that will shape his/her writing practices.

The session commenced with the lecturer reading an example of a writing philosophy.  Discussion was then held around the elements outlined in that philosophy statement.  To facilitate this discussion, we were  placed in groups of six.  Each group was required to read one paragraph at a time to read and  analyze  the ideas expressed.  After the group read and extracted the ideas from each paragraph and identified what they believe was the thrust of each, our course instructor engaged us in a grand conversation to listen to our views and confirm what each paragraph was focusing on. We believe that this mechanism that our lecturer used where she had us work  collaboratively in groups to decipher  and analyze the texts to come up with the focal point for each was a brilliant idea as it enabled us to engage in deep thinking, connect ideas and compare and contrast each other's viewpoints in relation to what was read. This also made us realize that even when we read the same text, we all can have different interpretations. We hope that this technique can  be replicated  so that we can evaluate each others divergent perspectives and view texts with more critical eyes.

Following this, the lecturer taught about Nancy Chism 1988 Steps to Wrting a Philosopy Statement and then applied Chism (1988) Philosophy Statements to help us develop an outline for our writing philosophy.  Below are the five components that were formulated:

1.  Conceptualization of Writing

2.   Conceptualization of Teaching Writing

3.  Goals for Students

4.  Implementation of Writing Philosophy

5.  Professional Growth Plan

Below is an example of each component of a teacher's writing philosophy. 
   
Conceptualization of Writing

Conceptualization of writing involves what writing means to the teacher.  Below is an example of what writing means to a teacher.

"Writing is a meaning constructing activity where writers utilize an avenue to communicate their views, feelings and opinions with a reasonable measure of confidence.  It is an opportunity to allow readers to gain entry into my world, hence, connecting with me.  I believe that writing encompasses the utilization of proper grammar, sentence structure and punctuation.  Prior to writing, writers brainstorm ideas.  To write properly, one must have knowledge of the writing process, which include prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing.  There are different genres of writing such as narrative, expository, persuasive and poetry.  It is vital that the appropriate genre of writing is selected when penning a piece.  I strongly believe that the aim of writing instruction is to achieve proficiency."     

Conceptualization of Teaching Writing

Below is an example of a teacher's conceptualization of teaching writing.

"As a teacher of writing, I am seen as the main driving force who can ignite a writing passion within my students.  My disposition towards writing needs to vividly reflect a love for writing.  I am convinced that as a teacher, I am the cornerstone to helping students acquire effective communication skills where they can express their knowledge, thoughts, opinions and feelings in writing.  Consequently, I believe that as a teacher, I must graciously perform my responsibility of developing writing skills to my students to the best of my ability, knowing that I can be held accountable.  To efficiently teach students the elements of writing, I must utilize a variety of successful strategies that will take into consideration each student's learning style, intellectual ability, developmental level and interests.  Through differentiation of process, product, content and assessment, all students will have a greater chance at succeeding."  

Goals for Students

Below is an example of a teacher's writing goals of her students

"As a teacher I believe it is imperative that I possess high writing expectations from all my students, and this must be communicated to them.  Students in general need the assurance that they will be successful.  Therefore, as a teacher, I intend to provide students with guided practice.  I am of the conviction that regardless of students' background, home language, socioeconomic status or race, they all come with various interesting stories to tell. As a result, I must make provision for each one to be psychologically comfortable to express in writing their amazing stories.  Incorporating writing across the curriculum is another way of allowing students to express their stories, thoughts and views.  In addition, I will ensure that I immerse my students in writing activities that are relevant to their experiences such as writing about their family, culture and different experiences that they have had.  A student's identity is extremely important.  Subsequently, students in general will be more productive if they are given the opportunity to pen a piece on topics that they can relate to.  Therefore, it is imperious to ensure that I supply my students with the needed vocabulary on the topic before they begin writing.  Another thing I anticipate is ensuring that my students are supported with a print rich environment where they can have access to a wider variety of good writers and authors that they can mimic.  That means, they will eventually learn what constitutes a good piece.  Some other goals that I have for my students as writers are to learn the mechanics of writing, the syntax of writing, selecting appropriate texture structures, organizing ideas and the writing process."   

Implementation of Writing Philosophy

Below is an example of how a teacher intends to implement her writing philosophy. 

"To effectively implement my philosophy of teaching writing, I will incorporate a number of teaching strategies that would help my students become proficient writers.  One of these include modelling.  The process of good writing must be modelled to students.  For example, through modelling, students can be taught how to brainstorm ideas and create a narrative or descriptive piece.  Modelling gives students an excellent foundation of what good writing is; hence, they will have a greater chance at successfully reaching their maximum writing potential and there will be little to no chances for failure.  Through sufficient modelling and demonstrations students will acquire the writing skills that they need to eventually be able to write independently.  In addition, the writer's workshop will be incorporated in my writing instruction to enable students to write freely.  Students will also be engaged in journal writing frequently.  Exit and entrance slips will also be integrated across the curriculum to assess students' writing skills.  Moreover, I will utilize graphic organizers such as the five senses cluster to teach descriptive writing and narrative organizers to solidify students' comprehension of both the text structures and the process of writing when teaching writing skills.  An assessment strategy I will utilize to evaluate my students writing competencies is the 6 + 1 Trait, which assess the ideas, organization, voice, word choice, fluency, conventions and presentation of a piece of writing.  Through this strategy, I will be able to provide specific timely feedback to my students that will help them improve."     

Professional Growth Plan

Below is an example of a teacher's growth.

"As a teacher, constant analysis and evaluation is needed for any teacher to progress in their pedagogical practices.  Therefore, as a teacher of writing, I will constantly incorporate methodologies that will influence me in refining my personal writing skills.  One example includes attending professional development exercise such as workshops and seminars, educating me to better my writing skills.  Furthermore, I will maintain a vibrant working relationship with more proficient teacher of writing who can provide me with positive criticism to improve.  Reading scholarly articles and books and watching modelling writing videos are other ways I intend to utilize to sustain professional growth in the teaching of writing.  Lastly, reflecting on my own teaching of writing will definitely provide some assistance needed to expand my writing skills." 


When these five paragraphs above are combined, it produces the complete writing philosophy of the teacher.  

At the end of the session, we began writing the first component of our writing philosophy.  Overall, it was a good exercise.  Having a writing philosophy established will shape a teacher's pedagogy, thus, providing greater chance for students to reach their maximum writing potential and the teacher being successful at teaching writing.