The benefits of freedom
keeping writing notebooks or journals
evidence from Buckinghamshire Teachers as Writers group (TAW ) - part of the NATE writing project
This article was first published in NATE's 'Classroom', Spring 2012
Writing journals are not a new idea, but a recent emphasis on progress achieved exclusively through teacher-directed, heavily scaffolded, target-driven writing has left their potential relatively unappreciated. Writing journals enrich the learning journey by allowing incipient ideas to percolate, whereas an over-emphasis on writing destinations often leaves thought ‘freeze-dried’.
‘It is perhaps a fear of exposing the incompleteness of their pupils’ learning which accounts for the reluctance of some teachers to break away from … formulaic writing.’ (UK National Writing Project 1990) And it still remains true that we need to ‘recognise that children learn through experience and experimentation and not through instruction alone.’ Therefore journals, by liberating private expression and experimentation from judgements associated with public communication, create safe places for young writers to grow. Journals have been particularly effective in engaging previously disaffected writers. This article confirms that ‘when children have some responsibility for their own learning, they can surprise us with their capabilities.’ (p.53 Writing and Learning NWP Nelson 1990). |
NATE’s writing project focuses first on providing spaces for teachers to write.
Exploring this professional ‘hinterland’ collaboratively, without being told what to do, feels to some teachers as though it should require ‘permission’, although, of course, it is an entirely proper professional practice. These writing journeys begin with the gift of a journal. Teachers value the privacy of this, especially since they are usually fearful of sharing and preoccupied with not knowing ‘how good this is’.
What do teachers say about the value of keeping journals?
What do teachers say about the value of keeping journals?
Today I woke up and wrote in my journal I dedicated ten minutes and an hour later I was still there and I felt great!
I still love writing in my journal though and look forward to filling one so I can choose another one to start! I love a completed journal. It gives me a real satisfaction and flicking through it to see what I have achieved and as a reference for ideas. Children of all ages derive similar fulfilment from journals. A year 1 teacher observed after the first term: I believe that the writing journals have built a huge amount of confidence in the children and they are all willing to have a go. They are all generally very eager to share 'their' writing with anyone who will look, and have a great sense of pride of their work. A teacher of year 11: (Journals) increase their desire to write what is in them rather than what they think might be good. It has taught them to value their opinions, emotions and also the words of others. “Writers need to develop a critical sense of themselves through … using reflection for a sense of forward movement with their own purposes and widening audiences.” (Becoming a Writer: NWP 1990) |
So, what steps can you take - and what do project teachers say?
1. Write yourself
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2. Let them write freely
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3. Write alongside them
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4. Quick write
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5. Enable sharing when ready
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1. WRITE YOURSELF
‘Writers need teachers who write.’ (John Richmond, NWP 1990). You will benefit from the experience of writing regularly – and not just professionally! Morning writing can be good – or any uninterrupted time. Then you can show the children your journal – albeit at a safe distance – and be prepared to share some of its content – when you’re ready. You will not always find writing comes easily but you will have started on a journey. Year 6: They all wanted to read what I had written and they were also very interested in what my writing looked like. One girl asked me if she could cross things out in her writing. When I showed her my writing, and all my editing and crossing out and scribbling, she found it fascinating. |
2. LET THEM WRITE FREELY
Provide children with a book (journal) in which they can freely write what they choose. Some people have found it useful to start with some prompts or suggestions, but most have found that the greatest benefit is that pupils can write exactly what they want. Establish that this is their book: they may wish to personalise it. You will not be marking it. Don’t worry - pupils more often welcome this freedom than abuse it; although learnt dependency may make them initially timid. And let them find a comfortable place to write – that may not always be behind a desk! |
Year 2: Initially they looked blankly at me in disbelief that I wasn't going to tell them how and why but that I was simply going to let them write! It was quite terrifying for me too but I embraced the moment. Once they realised that they could just write, I couldn't stop them. They wrote for 35minutes and when I stopped to bring the class together for break I had children (boys and girls) asking if they could stay in and write at break!
Year 6: The children sat where they liked, with whom they liked and wrote ...you guessed it... what they liked. It was a revelation. Children sat at desks, sprawled on the carpet or huddled under tables. |
Year 8: Those who were with me last year are excited by the new 'freedom' to write what they want. They quickly came up with ideas and began writing. The new students floundered and repeatedly asked if they could really write whatever they wanted. One of them must have said 'I don't get it' about five or six times!
Year 12: I was amazed. As soon as they had freedom, they all started working in silence. They were actually frustrated when I asked them to stop and as soon as they finished, they demanded to know whether they would be able to come back to them and add to them. |
3. WRITE ALONGSIDE THEM
Year 1: I write weekly with the children as part of a whole school independent writing session. I write at the same time as the children and then share what I have. The children are then free to critique it and share their own. I think they think I love writing and that I think it is important. I hope that they feel I give positive encouragement and that I am a safe person to share their writing with.
Year 1: I write weekly with the children as part of a whole school independent writing session. I write at the same time as the children and then share what I have. The children are then free to critique it and share their own. I think they think I love writing and that I think it is important. I hope that they feel I give positive encouragement and that I am a safe person to share their writing with.
… AND MAKE WRITING A HABIT
10-20 minutes daily or 3 times a week, may be enough to get children into the habit of recording reflections and experimenting freely, but 20 minutes weekly can also be useful to start or end a week with ‘thinking time’.
Year 2: Separate exercise books are introduced in September in which the children are encouraged to write about what interests them. Regular class time is provided although the frequency varies. Journal time is fitted around other work. Children are given no prompts. Stickers on the books make it clear to parents and children that the books will be read by an adult but not marked. This is important because young children sometimes write freely about family matters of considerable sensitivity. General practice is to allow quiet writing time, with no discussion beforehand. Afterwards volunteers share.
10-20 minutes daily or 3 times a week, may be enough to get children into the habit of recording reflections and experimenting freely, but 20 minutes weekly can also be useful to start or end a week with ‘thinking time’.
Year 2: Separate exercise books are introduced in September in which the children are encouraged to write about what interests them. Regular class time is provided although the frequency varies. Journal time is fitted around other work. Children are given no prompts. Stickers on the books make it clear to parents and children that the books will be read by an adult but not marked. This is important because young children sometimes write freely about family matters of considerable sensitivity. General practice is to allow quiet writing time, with no discussion beforehand. Afterwards volunteers share.
4. QUICK WRITE
You may wish to ‘loosen up’ and vary journal time with a 5-minute ‘quick-write‘. Exercises might be as simple as
Year 7: Attempted some free writing on memories with a Year 7 class – notoriously badly behaved, (‘you can’t do group work with that class’ said one teacher.) Not a peep out of them AND so many of them wanted to share and several refused to give in their work wanting to take it home to finish! As proof, I actually took some pictures of them - some lying on the floor etc Warning on ‘standards’: A recent study of year 6 writing revealed that many children try, at their teachers’ behest, to include ‘wow’ words, key connectives, and less familiar forms of punctuation, with the result that, the purpose and audience having been long forgotten, their writing lacks coherence and fluency. Writers need to practise sustaining viewpoint, chiming with their ‘animus’ or their uniting ‘feeling’ for why they are writing and whom they are writing for. Journal practice promotes this. |
5. ENABLE SHARING WHEN READY
Negotiate how talk around writing will work. It is important to have quiet, and respect privacy: writers should share only when ready. It is also valuable to have a ready listener/reader for your writing. Response partners might practise focusing first on the writing process before dwelling on stylistics:
Year 7 When we started, I stressed that the journals were private and they wouldn't be marked. I promised I wouldn't even read what they'd written unless they asked me to. It's ironic that so many of them had written 'keep out' on the covers and yet they seem to be almost aching to let people in to read what they've written. Writing has fallen into the category of the 'fun' lesson. Year 11: I have noticed that ‘quiet/private’ sharing with peers is a relief for ‘shy’ unconfident writers and encourages them in a way a teacher comment cannot. It instils a belief that their writing is worthwhile and … gives a quiet confidence that is essential for experimenting with communication and building skills. If you would like to find out what writing can do for you, why not start your own journal and join a NATE writing group? Simon Wrigley Click here for an article from NWP US about 'Lifebooks' and how they may be prepared for and used to develop confident writers. |