NLT policy

Writing the future

1 Feb 2009

In January 2009, the National Literacy Trust hosted a policy breakfast entitled, writing the future – how can we best support writing in the 21^st century? At the event, a range of expert leaders discussed issues facing writing in schools, as well as the best ways to teach and support writing in the future.

We were delighted that bestselling children’s author and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz was able to lead the discussion. Representatives from organisations such as the DSCF, Ofsted, National Strategies, National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) and Everybody Writes were present to participate in what was an excellent discussion.

 

Background

In 2008, the National Year of Reading worked successfully to push reading up the political agenda and position it within the context of social justice. However, literacy is wider than just reading and other key skills must also be addressed. With standards in writing consistently behind those in reading, and the recent launch of the Every Child a Writer campaign, the National Literacy Trust (NLT) believe now is an ideal time for discussion about the future of writing among school children and the general population.

Despite concerns about writing standards in schools declining, writing has undergone a fascinating cultural change over the past decade, with authors becoming celebrities and celebrities becoming authors. This ‘celebritisation’ of writing has changed the way many young people view writing. Alongside this, the rise of social networking sites and texting on mobile phones has increased the amount of time that children spend writing, although this is accompanied by concerns about the form and style young people are using.

 

Importance of reading

Throughout the discussion, the group repeatedly stressed the absolute centrality of reading to writing. On a functional level, it is impossible to write unless you can read, but the link goes beyond that. All writers have influences and their ideas are shaped by what they read; this is particularly true of children and young people. In fact, it is possible to tell what a child has been reading from the style and tone of their writing.

Children are sometimes identified as having a lack of imagination when in reality the problem is a poverty of reading. Children obtain imaginative building blocks from reading stories and reading is, therefore, essential to imagination and writing. Children also gather ideas from unguided play during which they have the opportunity to imagine and repeat situations and scenarios. There are naturally boundaries to unguided play, but both reading and play are essential to a child’s imagination.

 

Enjoyment and confidence

Free play feeds a child’s imagination, in part because it is enjoyable so children internalise the ideas and experiences. The link between enjoyment and attainment is well established and also extends into a young person’s confidence as a writer, so writing confidence, enjoyment and attainment are all closely linked. Lacking either enjoyment or confidence in writing can create a cycle of underachievement, where attainment, confidence and interest all fall away.

Solutions are difficult to find because far fewer children enjoy writing than reading. The benefits of reading for pleasure are understood by government, the practice is effectively encouraged and many children and adults often read. However, the situation is not the same for writing. There is a firmly entrenched belief that writing is simply something that must be done, rather than something that people enjoy doing. This exists in both schools and workplaces. Reports, meeting notes and other functional forms of writing dominate many people’s ideas of writing and a fear of what writing entails discourages people. Culturally, writing has been misused and undervalued, and the problem is entrenched with adults as well as children.

Lack of enthusiasm for writing is partly formed in school, where writing tasks are usually prescriptive, and often functional rather than creative. There is too often a lack of choice in writing activities at school, and this lack of choice prevents children from being able to explore the writing that may inspire them.

 

Validating and utilising other forms of writing

Interestingly – given the recognition that young people often lack confidence and don’t enjoy writing – children today probably do more writing for pleasure than ever before. This paradox makes the issue of choice in school writing tasks particularly prescient. The growth of text messaging and social networking sites mean that people increasingly use written communication over any other. However, much of this writing is not considered “proper writing” either by teachers, or by pupils themselves. Moreover, much of this writing is creative, designed to entertain the intended audience, and covers many of the assessment criteria that are attached to academic writing.

The often underexplored similarities between lyrics and poetry are a good example of this. Using lyrics, either that students have written themselves or from existing songs, can be a very effective way of demonstrating literary devices in poetry. Using something the children are already interested in increases engagement and improves attitudes, with knock-on effects for attainment. 

The fear many teachers have with regard to literacy is that “text speak”, and other inappropriate forms and styles, have begun to appear in exam scripts and essays. This fear does need to be addressed, but the opportunity to engage young people and make the school curriculum more interesting and relevant should not be lost. Research has also shown that as long as young people understand when different forms of writing are appropriate, then texting and other technologies are linked positively with literacy achievement.[1]

 

Breaking the cycle by addressing adult problems

Much of the conversation centred on writing among young people. However, many of the same issues are relevant to adults as well. Far fewer adults write for pleasure, or have confidence in their own writing, than is the case for reading; writing is viewed as something functional and compulsory.

The negative attitudes of adults impacts upon younger generations as adults with low confidence in their writing pass this on to their children. Some of the children currently going through the school system disengaged from writing will become the teachers of the future, and will continue to pass on their negative attitudes to writing.

Adapting the curriculum creatively and aligning it with young people’s interests will only work if those who are teaching are confident writers themselves. Research from the UKLA in 2007 showed that primary school teachers have a relatively narrow knowledge of children literature, and this may impact on their ability to relate to children’s interests.[2] A study looking at teachers as writers, concentrating on their fears and enjoyments, may yield similarly pertinent insights.

Interestingly, it may also be worth considering diverting some of the funding that goes into children’s writing towards teachers. There may be value in authors talking to teachers about writing, and demonstrating both creative approaches to teaching literacy and attempting to raise teachers’ interest in writing. This could help to break negative attitudes among both adults and children, therefore breaking the cycle more effectively.

 

Conclusion

There is currently a paradox with writing in the UK as confidence and enjoyment among children and adults appear to be low, although technology and modern communication means that there is probably more writing done than ever before.

After a fascinating discussion at the policy breakfast, two main themes have emerged. Firstly, it is paramount that the school curriculum reflects and utilises writing forms that young people enjoy and engage with in order to demonstrate that writing is more than a compulsory task: it is an essential life skill. In 2009, the NLT will be carrying out a research project on young people’s self perceptions as writers in order to better understand this area. The second theme was the need to better understand teachers’ attitudes towards writing, to ensure that those charged with leading education in writing are enthusiastic and confident writers. Focusing on both adults and children should allow writing to undergo a major cultural shift.   

 

George Dugdale, Policy Adviser

National Literacy Trust, February 2009

Downloadable version of this paper:  Writing the future  [pdf].

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[1] Plester, Wood, Coventry University, 2006

[2] UKLA, Teachers as Readers, 2007

 

Tags: Policy, Schools & teaching

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