The Growing Consciousness Of Writer Identity Among Young Writers

 

Writer identity is constructed with a growing consciousness of how writing actually works and how each writer fits into that space. For this to happen the most proficient reader and writer in the classroom must demonstrate the decisions and actions that characterize a truly independent, self-directed learner.  

If young writers are to feature as risk-takers in the classroom, the teaching they are exposed to needs to be bold and brave. Students will be more inclined to write their way beyond the limits of the comfort zone, if a teacher holds a torch that lights the way.



What Donald Graves referred to as an ‘ego force’ is the vital spark driving our young writers to want more from the experience. This energy pushes them forward in pursuit of a stronger writer identity.

I fondly recall two Grade 3 writers I once taught who regularly got their heads together to write poetry on the classroom floor. They became known as the 'Floor Poets' and across that year, an anthology of poetry took shape. It was not the only writing they produced, but it was writing form they found that most met their needs as writers. It gave them a distinct writing identity. One of Floor Poets further enhanced his writing identity by asking for a rhyming dictionary when his birthday rolled by. As teachers our role is to grow writers, not control them, not hinder their development. 



The following young writers display a well-developed sense of their writing identity. After working with their classes across a school year and assisting to them in maximizing the use of their writer’s notebooks, they were invited to reflect on their experiences as writers. They had no prior experience with using notebooks as a writing resource when we embarked on this learning journey.

‘When I write my mind belongs to the pencil. Ideas dance into my notebook and on to the page. This way I write whenever an idea comes up. My motto is-writing is the way to collect and make reading. My world is the pencil and paper world.’

Phoebe

What do I like to write about you ask?

Daring knights, beautiful princesses, ferocious dragons, trolls, tall castles, crazy foods, odd characters, peculiar places and anything else to do with fantasy. That’s why my writer’s notebook is special to me. I can write about anything, absolutely anything. My writer’s notebook lets my imagination go free without anyone telling me I can’t do that.

Francis

I get an idea, there’s an idea rushing around my brain. It can be two o’clock in the morning and I’m crawling on my bedroom floor looking for my writer’s notebook!

Mali 

In classrooms where every writer is offered choice and a chance to demonstrate initiative, we are more likely to witness the emergence of genuine writer identity. The power of writing is revealing itself and they are beginning to shape that power to meet their specific needs as  writers.

‘Alan, I’m writing two books at the moment,’ said Linda, age 5, as I entered her classroom one morning. ‘One at school and one at home!’

‘Linda, you are such a busy writer.’

Linda was a mere 10 weeks into her school life and already knew who she was –a writer.


Alan j Wright

Education Consultant, Author.

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