Situating students as authentic writers outside the classroom

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the value of writing journals for both students and teachers beyond English lessons and without insistence on evidencing writing progress. Keeping a journal or undertaking regular reflective writing is an unfamiliar experience for some students, and schools may offer limited privacy for writing. Used in a comprehensive school as part of a trip to Uganda, the journals provide space for reflection and remembering, enable the emotional and cognitive dimensions of the experience to be captured, and initiate students and teachers into a shared community of practice that celebrates writing as one way of processing individual academic and personal development.

KEYWORDS:

• Personal writing
• community of practice
• journal
• teachers as writers
• reflective writing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Theresa Gooda

Theresa Gooda is a Secondary English teacher, doctoral researcher, National Writing Project coordinator for Sussex.