Writing is Primary

Before going independent and multidisciplinary two decades ago, I spent several years in the arts funding system as a literature officer, amongst other things, and a large part of my job was to support writers and storytellers going into schools to do readings and run writing workshops.  Earlier even than that, I gained my PGCE partly through writing and introducing a slim volume of poetry 'for use in the sixth form' - those were the days when teaching practice was a short and (for me at least) slightly surrealistic blip in a blissful year of reading and discussing what teaching English and drama might consist of.  I brought this personal experience to a fascinating piece of research that the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation commissioned me to undertake in 2005: to review the state of play in the teaching and learning of writing in primary schools.  The findings from this survey bore out a general feeling in and out of education that there were specific problems, most obviously with boys failing to achieve expected standards.  More broadly, the pedagogic emphasis seemed to be more on teaching the 'secretarial aspects' of writing (capital letters, punctuation et al) than on the content, style, purpose and readership of children's writing.  One less obvious consequence was the limit this approach placed on the creative potential of the teacher herself/himself.

This confirmation of a need for fresh thinking ultimately led to an ambitious year-long action research project, Writing is Primary, involving three clusters of schools in Bury, Worcester and Medway/Kent in 2007/08.  My report on this project, published by the Foundation in 2009, draws out what was learned from these schools as they tried, in different ways, to improve the teaching and learning of writing.  One fascinating outcome bore out my own original hunch - that teachers who take the risk of writing themselves (and do so in class in front of their children) frequently report a marked improvement in their pupils' own attitudes to writing, in their confidence and thus in the quality of their writing. 

The report can be downloaded here  or, if you want a beautifully designed print version, single copies may still be available free from Education Direct - simply email esmeefairbairnfoundation@education.co.uk stating your request, your name (and, if applicable, your organisation's name) and full address, plus email address and phone number in case of queries.  You can also find out more about the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation by visiting www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk.

 

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Writing is primary.pdf (491 KB)
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The Inventive Answer

It is not often you have carte-blanche to write about creativity, but I was commissioned a couple of years back by Rick Hall to write a 'think piece' on the conditions for creativity for young people.  The Inventive Answer was my response.  It can be downloaded here but its other natural home is at Ignite!, an organisation which my piece played a modest part in kickstarting, and which is now breaking ever more exciting new ground in exploring the creative potential of what used to be called 'yoof'.  If you want to learn more about Ignite's work, visit www.ignitefutures.org.uk.



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The Inventive Answer - Ignite.pdf (145 KB)
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