My reflections on the Beliefs of the NCTE

Writing is an activity that I have always enjoyed, even as a teen, and having the opportunity to learn the skills which will help me become an effective and strategic teacher of writing is something which I find exciting and look forward to. The reading of the NCTE resource about the teaching of writing served to confirm many of my own beliefs and experiences about the teaching of writing, and writing in general, as well as provide new insights.

I think the NCTE could not have been more correct in stating that developing writers require support. It is indeed true that writing is one of the language skills that is not acquired, it has to be taught explicitly, and beginning writers therefore cannot just be given a topic and told to begin writing. They need support in terms of carefully designed writing instruction, which will help them build their writing skills and develop new strategies. In my case, explicit instruction in terms of how to begin an essay, build a paragraph etc. came late during my secondary school years. During my earlier exposure to writing activities at school, we were simply given a topic and told to write about it, what I think served as my saving grace was the fact that I was an avid reader, and I copied many of the conventions of writing which I cam across in the different genres of literature.

Another belief held by the NCTE which profoundly impressed me is that teachers should attend to the process that students use to produce texts, and not only specify the criteria for evaluating finished products. During the few times when I assigned my students the task of producing an essay, I never thought of paying attention to the process used to generate ideas or gather information, the only thing which I found important, and therefore focused upon was the finished product – how their ideas were organized and expressed. I am however beginning to realize that the process of producing a piece of writing is at times even more important than the finished product, and as a more informed teacher, I will pay more attention to this in the future, when my students are completing their writing assignments.

The NCTe also believes that reading and writing are related, and people who read a lot have a much easier time developing as writers. From my personal experience, I can say that this is true. I remember using a particular phrase in an essay at primary school, and the teacher was surprised that I was able to construct such a phrase into my essay at that stage. When I was questioned about the use of the phrase, I simply replied that I had seen it used in a short story which I had read. This leads to one of the implications for teachers- that we need to provide students with time to read during school. Students should be allowed to read whatever books they find interesting during periods of Sustained Silent Reading, this will provide the early motivation that they need to engage in reading activities.

Other beliefs held by the NCTE, such as writing can be used as a tool for thinking, and that writing has a special relationship to talk have all been proven true in my personal experiences as a writer, and their implications for teaching cannot be discounted.