SECONDARY WRITING WORKSHOP MISCONCEPTIONS
by Cindy Blevins on 08/17/16
From an NCTE Blog by Penny Kittle about Misconceptions of using Writing Workshop with Secondary Students:
I find that one of the biggest misunderstandings about writing workshop is its origin. Many do not realize the early research of Donald Murray with freshmen composition students at UNH and Jane Emig in grade 12, and instead attribute the thinking all to Donald Graves, who worked in early elementary school after Murray & Emig (and others) began publishing the results of using the process approach to teach writing. The resistance from secondary teachers is often to the idea that someone is "pushing" elementary workshop into middle and high school.
The original pedagogy of writing workshop was grounded in 'what if we treat students like writers--show them how writers work--' and Murray found that conferring regularly with writers, showing them how he wrote himself, and giving students time and space to find topics that matter to them engaged and challenged them to learn a process that would lead to their best work. It is still the only way I know to empower all students to write with independence and increasing skill. Those interested should read Learning by Teaching--a collection of Murray's early, wise articles or The Essential Don Murray, edited by Tom Newkirk and Lisa Miller.
Check out my next Blog on “The First 5 Steps in Establishing a Successful Writer’s Workshop with Secondary Students” based on my own personal experience in the classroom: http://www.elaconnections.com/ELAC_Blog.html?entry=the-first-5-steps-in
