The teaching of writing is based on several key foundational assumptions, as outlined by educators such as Atwell, Calkins, Graves, and Murray:
Autonomous Writers: Students are naturally motivated to write to explore meaning and communicate. Assigning topics too frequently may suppress their creativity and independence. Encouraging student-initiated topics leads to more writing and engagement.
Writing as a Process: Writing involves a cyclical process of prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. These stages are not linear but recursive, allowing for continuous reflection and improvement.
Varied Writing Modes: All forms of writing are valued, and teachers should challenge students to explore different modes of discourse. Students are responsible for shaping their own work, with input from teachers and peers.
Conferencing: Teachers guide writing through conferences, where they listen to students' ideas, provide feedback, and suggest next steps. These conferences are brief, supportive, and aim to help students reflect on their writing process.
Multiple Readers: Students benefit from having many readers to provide feedback, as relying solely on the teacher's evaluation can narrow their perspective. Peer feedback enriches the writing process.
Ownership and Publishing: Students take ownership of their writing when they choose topics and present their work to a broader audience. Public platforms encourage them to refine their work for a real-world audience.
Recursive Writing Process: Writing is not a step-by-step process but a dynamic one where revising, editing, and planning can happen at any stage.
The comparison between product, process, and post-process approaches shows that while product-based approaches assign topics and focus on formal rules, the process approach emphasizes student-initiated writing, with an ongoing cycle of prewriting, writing, and revising. The post-process approach combines elements of both, allowing for teacher intervention to guide students toward a variety of genres and writing forms.
Murray (1968) highlights the teacher's role in setting conditions for writing, guiding students through mini-lessons, conferences, and feedback in an encouraging and supportive environment.
When assessing writing, tasks should mimic real-world scenarios, and clear performance rubrics should be used to guide students' work. Involving students in the creation of rubrics can increase fairness and engagement in the learning process. Assessment emphasizes not only mechanics like spelling and grammar but also the organization, creativity, and coherence of ideas. Rubrics for evaluation distinguish between top papers, which are well-organized and exhibit clear, detailed writing, and lower papers, which may lack structure, focus, and clarity.
By Elvina Brown
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