Teaching writing by formula: empowerment or exclusion?

ABSTRACT

The teaching of writing in secondary English subjects in Australia, as in other countries including England and the United States, has become increasingly formulaic. Pedagogies including direct instruction, modelling, scaffolding, and genre-based approaches involve the implementation of formulas for writing sentences, paragraphs, and entire essays; this has taken place in the neoliberal context of tightly proscribed, high stakes testing regimes that often demand the reproduction of these formulas. This article considers affordances and constraints for inclusion of this process. It then presents findings of a small-scale qualitative study into the teaching of writing in Victoria that asked teachers about pedagogies for the teaching of writing, and how students were faring as a result. In conclusion, the article offers recommendations for inclusive practice in the teaching of writing.

KEYWORDS:

• Writing
• inclusive pedagogy
• testing
• neoliberalism
• English
• formulas
• paragraphs
• curriculum

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Victorian Association for the Teaching of English.

Notes on contributors

Lucinda McKnight

Lucinda McKnight is a pre-service teacher educator and senior lecturer in pedagogy and curriculum at Deakin University, Melbourne. She is a former English teacher and experienced English teacher educator, with particular research interests in the teaching of writing. She also lectures, researches and publishes in the area of diversity and inclusion.