Children and Writing -Some Recent Revelations
I recently had the pleasure of participating in a UKLA (United Kingdom Literacy Association) Zoom presentation by Ross Young from Writing for Pleasure.
Ross shared some of his research findings about how UK children currently feel about writing.
Here are some of my take-aways from Ross's inspiring and informative discussion. Ross is a researcher, educator and writer based in the UK.
Sadly, children’s sense of autonomy about writing is diminishing. 88 % of young writers interviewed, want more choice. They believe teacher-controlled writing topics make writing harder and less motivating. They possess a passion for their own writing ideas and wish to explore their own funds of knowledge. If they are encouraged in this direction research indicates they are 8 times more likely to pursue writing beyond the classroom requirements.
Too many schools in the UK approach writing from a plug and play perspective where the teacher delivers prescribed lessons curated by someone beyond the school with no appreciation of student writer needs.
Choice of topic improves competency when children use content knowledge held in their long term memory and pair it with their attention, persistence and effort.
Ross strongly advocated for Collaborative Writing Projects where student writers have agency and the teacher provides guidance, support and instruction. The writer is encouraged to investigate their passions, interests, funds of knowledge and identity. Children understand teachers have important things to teach them. They need explicit teaching and guidance in generating ideas and implementing their projects.
Children involved in surveys conducted by researchers viewed teachers as often being the sole arbiter of quality. This was most evident among low -mid motivated writers.
Teachers tended to provide feedback on the final written product. Children reported receiving no feedback on their process as writers. Competency was internalized as having neat handwriting, correct spelling and adhering to grammatical conventions.
A need to write for personal competency is underplayed despite its absolute relevance. Writing for self as well as the assessment. Writing for the sense of immersion and being ‘in’ the writing. Developing a sense of pride in trying their best and persisting. The writer deserves to feel a sense of personal satisfaction in seeing their writing improve as a consequence of their effort.
Ross also contends that to develop children’s motivation to write we must understand writing as an act of relationship building with:
-their own writing,
-their writing peers and teacher writers
-and ultimately their readers.
Among the findings about the state of play with writing Ross shared, this particularly concerned me.
UK students interviewed about writing lamented not being able to write about their own topics, genres and interests. When teachers regularly assigned writing tasks it left them feeling a sense of incompetence. Teacher topics left them feeling less motivated to write. Their passion to explore their own funds of knowledge went unfulfilled.
This sounds very much like a throwback to my primary school days all those decades ago.
*By way of contrast, children who are encouraged to explore thier own writing ideas were found to be 8 times more likely to write beyond the confines of the classroom. This has significant implication for how writing is presented in our schools.
Here is a link to Ross Young's research:
Alan j Wright
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