Writing for Pleasure: Theory, Research and Practice PDF
Preview Writing for Pleasure: Theory, Research and Practice
Writing for Pleasure This book explores what writing for pleasure means, and how it can be realised as a much-needed pedagogy whose aim is to develop children, young people, and their teachers as extraordinary and life-long writers. The approach described is grounded in what global research has long been telling us are the most effective ways of teaching writing and contains a description of the authors’ own research project into what exceptional teachers of writing do that makes the difference. The authors describe ways of building communities of committed and successful writers who write with purpose, power, and pleasure, and they underline the importance of the affective aspects of writing teaching, including promoting in apprentice writers a sense of self-efficacy, agency, self-regulation, volition, motivation, and writer-identity. They define and discuss 14 research-informed principles which constitute a Writing for Pleasure pedagogy and show how they are applied by teachers in classroom practice. Case studies of outstanding teachers across the globe further illustrate what world-class writing teaching is. This ground-breaking text is essential reading for anyone who is concerned about the current status and nature of writing teaching in schools. The rich Writing for Pleasure pedagogy presented here is a radical new conception of what it means to teach young writers effectively today. Ross Young is the founder of The Writing For Pleasure Centre. He holds an MA in applied linguistics in education. As a passionate writer-teacher, he now works around the UK and abroad helping teachers and schools develop extraordinary young writers. He was a primary school teacher for ten years and holds an MA in applied linguistics in education. He now works around the UK and abroad helping teachers and schools develop young writers. He is also a visiting lecturer at a number of UK universities and is a passionate writer-teacher. Ross was the lead researcher on What is it Writing For Pleasure teachers do that makes the difference? His work continues to focus on the learning and teaching of young writers and is informed by his ongoing work with classroom teachers and early years educators. Felicity Ferguson was a primary school teacher for 40 years, working as an EAL specialist, SENCO, deputy, and head teacher. A writer herself, she has MA degrees in applied linguistics and children’s literature and has been involved in a number of literacy-based projects, including children’s reading development. She was a primary school teacher for 40 years, working as an EAL specialist, SENCO, deputy and head teacher. She has MA degrees in applied linguistics and children’s literature and has been involved in a number of literacy-based projects, including children’s reading development. An avid writer herself, Felicity, along with Ross, was the series creator of the Power English: Writing approach written for Pearson Education. Her current interest is in how classroom talk affects the development of children as writers. Writing for Pleasure Theory, Research and Practice Ross Young and Felicity Ferguson First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 Ross Young & Felicity Ferguson The right of Ross Young & Felicity Ferguson to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Title: Writing for pleasure : theory, research, and practice / Ross Young & Felicity Ferguson. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2020038760 | ISBN 9780367219505 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367219529 (paperback) | ISBN 9780429268984 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: English language--Composition and exercises--Study and teaching (Elementary) | Creative writing (Elementary education) Classification: LCC LB1576 .Y62 2021 | DDC 372.6--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020038760 ISBN: 978-0-367-21950-5 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-21952-9 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-26898-4 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India Contents Preface vii Acknowledgements ix The Writing For Pleasure Centre x 1 Teachers’ orientations towards teaching writing and young writers 1 2 Defining writing for pleasure 20 3 The affective domains of Writing for Pleasure 26 4 Self-efficacy 29 5 Self-regulation 35 6 Agency 42 7 Motivation 49 8 Volition 58 9 Writer-identity 64 10 The enduring principles of effective writing teaching 75 11 Create a community of writers 86 vi Contents 12 Treat every child as a writer 94 13 Read, share, think, and talk about writing 101 14 Pursue authentic and purposeful writing projects 112 15 Teach the writing processes 124 16 Set writing goals 144 17 Be reassuringly consistent 159 18 Personal writing projects 166 19 Balance composition and transcription 177 20 Teach mini-lessons 187 21 Be a writer-teacher 199 22 Pupil conference: Meet children where they are 211 23 Literacy for pleasure: Connect reading and writing 220 24 Conclusion: An action plan for world-class writing teaching 240 Index 255 Preface What we learn with pleasure we never forget – Alfred Mercier This book has been written by two passionate writer-teacher researchers. Writer- teachers are writers who teach and teachers who write. Years ago, we started teach- ing writing in what we felt to be a new way. We began reading research to support our work. Subsequently, we started conducting and disseminating our own research and observing what outstanding teachers were doing. While academic colleagues have been encouraging during the writing of the book, it has always been important for us to keep in mind that, ultimately, all the roads we follow must lead us back to teachers and children writing and writing together successfully and with pleasure. The idea that children can be taught exceptionally well and enjoy the craft of writing should be at the heart of every writing curriculum. It is entirely reasonable to suppose that children who are taught to write successfully and see themselves as writers enjoy their writing, and that when children enjoy being writers, they learn more effectively. However, surveys and reports of English children’s attitudes to and attainments in writing consistently tell us that such a happy state of affairs is by no means widespread. Something needs to change, and so we were moved to write this book. The book describes, to the best of our current knowledge, what constitutes world-class writing teaching, with the fervent hope that as many children as pos- sible will receive such teaching and so have the opportunity to become extraordi- nary writers. The evidence suggests that this is best achieved through a Writing For Pleasure pedagogy, which is the subject of the book. The pedagogy is based on what we currently know about the most effective teaching practices as documented in educational research and in what action research and case studies have learnt from exceptional classroom teachers of writing. One of the questions we try to answer is, what is it they do that makes the difference? Writing For Pleasure is a robust and rigorous pedagogy. It does not advocate for a ‘creative writing’ approach, though it encourages children to write creatively. It does not call for a return to a ‘growth’, ‘naturalistic’, or ‘romantic’ conception of writing, though it does want children to grow as writers. It wants children to learn viii Preface about linguistic and literary features, grammar, and punctuation, but in such a way as to help them craft meaningful and successful texts. It wants children to write in an environment of collective responsibility but also to be able to develop their own individual voice. Finally, it wants children to learn the behaviours, dispositions, knowledge, skills, and techniques of writers, to write with purpose, power, precision, and pleasure, and to write for life. And running beneath it like an underground stream is the conviction that we as teachers should be helping children to see writing not as being directed solely towards a set of efficient outcomes, but as an enterprise in which they can and should express their values, ideals, and aspirations. We do not assume that our job as writer-teacher researchers is done. What we have discovered today will undoubtedly be built on in the future, and, through our work at The Writing For Pleasure Centre, we will continue to question, investigate, and share how best to develop children as writers and consider how we deliver world-class writing teaching. We hope that what we have proposed is demanding, stimulating, and thought-provoking. And a first step on the road to bringing about much-needed change. Acknowledgements I dedicate this book to my nan who never learnt to write. RY I dedicate this book to my daughter, a writer in her own write. FF
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