Philosophy on Teaching Writing (And Other Thoughts)

Writing is a process that, on a basic level, functions to name and communicate ideas. However, writing is also a process that fosters resilience, encourages self-reflection and evaluation and facilitates a form of self-therapy—no shrink required. Clearly, writing’s practical purpose is essential and benefits our communities and societies at large in exponential ways. However, the process, the healing, self-reflection, self-awareness and resilience gained from writing is where its true value resides. Therefore, as I reflect upon the larger goals I intend to reach as a future teacher of writing, I can’t help but feel the burden of responsibility of teaching such weighty and potentially life-changing content. Writing can, in best practice, be powerfully revolutionary. It will be my aim to communicate writing as a process, as a form of resilience, to encourage critical thinking and to instill confidence within my students by helping them develop their voice.

On these grounds, it is priority to first and foremost communicate writing as a process, rather than a means of production. In his article, “A Thousand Writers Writing”, Robert P. Yagelski says, “I had always assumed, like most English teachers I know, that writing should produce a text to be used for some explicit purpose--to keep a record, promote learning, communicate ideas or information, or demonstrate writing ability (as in the context of assessment). It was not until I attended the opening session of the National Writing Project’s annual conference in 2004 that I began to consider the experience of an act of writing as separate from--and as valuable as--the text produced as a result of that writing” (Yagelski, 2009). And from personal experience in my own writing, I concur. I have never written to publish, but instead have found tremendous value in writing to reflect, to analyze, to make sense of things, to dive deeper in understanding of myself. In accordance with this goal, I intend to implement several types of assignments in order to yield the benefits of such a writing process. These include an extended writing project, (identical in nature to the piece we worked on all semester for Professor Branch) that allows students to explore their capacities and abilities as a writer while simultaneously encouraging personal reflection and continuous revision. Students will be forced to not focus on the end goal, but on the daily task at hand, as little as it may be. 

Moreover, as students view writing more and more as a process, I hope they would grow in self-reflection, that they would begin to see that they can gain something more than the text itself from writing. Therefore, I intend to incorporate memoir-esque writing assignments that challenge students to reflect on their life’s experiences and the ways that they have been shaped because of them, as well as daily writing prompts with questions that guide students into deeper, perhaps more introspective thinking. 

Finally, still in regard to writing as a process, I hope to strengthen my students’ revisional competency.  Mark Farrington, author of “Four Principles Toward Teaching the Craft of Revision”, says this, “Whether it be pride, a grade, or publication, revision is hard work, and everyone needs a reason to do it. Sometimes that reason might be practice. Teaching revision sometimes means practicing the technique of revision. Exercises like, ‘Write the beginning of your story from a different point of view, just to see if you can do it’ or ‘find a place other than the first sentence where this essay might begin, ‘ are valuable because they show student writers the possibilities that exist in writing” (Farrington). In this way, revision functions to challenge students to expand their thinking, to step outside of their comfort zone in writing.

Another major goal that I want to drive my philosophy in teaching is to promote writing as a form of resilience. As stated before, I will incorporate daily writing prompts that foster self-evaluation and reflection. However, I also hope to guide my students to harness their experiences and see the value in them as they work to create the individuality, strengths and unique passions within my students. I want to expose my students to writing’s therapeutic qualities so that later, when they are faced with struggles and setbacks, they are able to recall how writing can help them see their situation from various perspectives and can serve as a means to overcome their struggles or transform their thinking.

Additionally, I want to encourage writing as a means for critical thinking. I want my students to see the importance of engaging with the relevant political and social issues of our time and to challenge them to form their own opinions and standpoints. More than that, however, I hope to equip them with the ability to communicate those opinions in an effective and appropriate way. This, of course, can only come with practice. Ergo, I hope to regularly address the goings-on within our community and country and ask my students to respond to these events in the form of writing--something that could easily be incorporated into a daily writing prompt. 

Finally, as a teacher and mentor, I hope to instill confidence within my students--as writers, of course, but of greater importance, as individuals as well. I want my students to value their own individuality, their own strengths and weaknesses. Writing can do this for someone in a thousand little ways, but most dramatically as students begin to recognize and develop their own individual voice. I want to expose them to different types and styles of writing on a regular basis, to challenge them to experiment with their writing until they find a form that makes them come alive, to then make it their own. There is great value to this, beyond the beauty and art that can be produced from raw individuality. When a student finds their voice, who can begin to imagine what great things can happen?

In conclusion, I hope for my classroom to be a safe space, a place of exploration, vulnerability, imagination, healing, inspiration and growth--void of limitations or prejudices. Yes, this is a romantic idea--certainly difficult to create and perhaps impossible to actually attain and maintain. But, a teacher must keep this ideal in sight if progress of any valuable, lasting form is to be fostered within the confines of a classroom. Perspective is a lovely thing to hold onto--vision, a beacon of hope and promise for change.