To many students, writing is one of the most challenging tasks to be undertaken at school. Yet the fact remains one’s ability to write and to write effectively is arguably a necessity in today’s world. How, therefore, do we teachers help our students to improve their writing ? In helping to answer that question the National Council of Teachers of English, N.T.C.E, has posited a number of beliefs which if adhered to would help in the teaching and learning of writing.
Writing, according to N.T.C.E is a process, therefore, as teachers we should guide students through that process. Indeed, many students although wanting to write, simply don’t know how, resulting in anger and frustration when they are asked to do so. I remember quite vividly my years at secondary school where the mere thought of writing incited feelings of anger towards the writing act. Why, because I simply did not know how or where to begin. However, after being taught the process of writing I began to enjoy writing a bit more, feeling some sense of accomplishment when I had completed a particular task. But how should the writing process be taught? My own view is that a teacher as much as possible should model the process so a student would get a better sense of how to go about writing. Simply telling a student, for instance, that during the pre- writing stage one needs to "jot their ideas down", could, having observed this myself, lead to a student being confused as to what or how much details should be jotted down. If a teacher, however models the required behavior be it through a simple concept map or Venn diagram, a student would then have some idea as to what to do. Too many times we as teachers view students as miniature adults who think at our own levels when they obviously don’t. Therefore it is imperative that as much as possible we model the required behavior before asking students to perform a particular task.
Although I fully agree with the N.T.C.E that writing is a process, I none the less have some qualms about how this process is practically thrown out of the window when it comes to written examinations. I for one find it unfair that we teach children that it is important to adopt the writing process when they write, yet under examination conditions students are unable to fully go through the process. Of course some may argue that the examination is tailored so that students don’t need to go through the entire process or that examination markers take into consideration that students are under examination conditions when they mark. Nonetheless, the fact remains written or traditional examination methods don’t promote effective use of the writing process.
Another important belief which the N.C.T.E states, is that “People learn to writing by writing”. To any teacher this is of great significance as it not only encourages us to ensure that our students write constantly but also encourages us to use strategies which would help students adopt an effective writing style which would suite them. After all, although practicing writing could be beneficial there is also the possibility that someone who practices doing something wrongly will continue to do so. Teachers, be it through the writing prompts used or other strategies employed to encourage writing, need to ensure that their students write effectively. It would be an act of sheer folly in my view, for example, to have a student continue to write in a manner in which his ideas are non-sequential or lacking any form of organization simply because the student is supposedly performing the act of writing. Also, teachers need to take into consideration that writing is a process. Too many times teachers care about the quantity of writing tasks performed by the students rather than the quality. I remember my years at secondary school where we (students) were asked to write an essay one lesson and the next lesson having to write an entirely new essay with little or no time being taken to go through the writing process with the first essay. If a child is able to write one essay per term having continuously drafted and edited that essay throughout I see no problem. However this is, sad to say, never will be the case, as curriculum demands forces teachers to teach at accelerated rates which are ultimately detrimental to student learning and growth.
Also one needs to take into consideration that not all students are academically inclined. Although the N.T.C.E asserts that everyone can write which I agree with, some exceptional students are unable to express themselves as others would. So for a teacher, helping an exceptional student to write one effective paragraph or sentence would be more beneficial than trying to force that child to perform a task which they may not be able to accomplish such as writing an entire essay.
To conclude, I must acknowledge that the N.C.T.E’s beliefs about writing would be, for the most part, beneficial to teachers and students providing that teachers employ strategies and plans that cater for their students needs.
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