The Inquiry Approach to teaching writing, which is explained
in Wood’s reading, is brilliant.
Starting with a blank curriculum and filling it with ideas and focuses
that are actively and collaboratively generated by students seems very much
like a new literate, democratic way of operating a class. It seems pretty difficult to be effectively
working in many of the “typical” classrooms though, especially in lower-grade
classrooms. However if it does work with
some group of students, it seems like it would be an idealistic class not only
for teaching writing but also for teaching Language Arts in general.
In order for this approach to work in a ELA classroom, I think the class should put a great amount of weight upon writing lessons and teach reading skills and additional strategies along with the writing lessons because this inquiry approach seems to require very specific and explicit guidance. Unlike the traditional writing lessons many of us probably have experienced in our traditional classrooms, this approach allows a greater amount of time and thinking to go into the entire writing process from the beginning to the end. Students read carefully-chosen texts, which will help them develop a “vision” to determine how their writing will go, revisit the text in order to learn a specific technique or process of writing, then decide on their own what and how they are going to write, instead of being told what writing topics they have to choose from, explained how their “5 paragraph essay” should look like, and then asked to have their essay written and turned in by a certain date. This new approach is very much student-generated and seems to require the full participation and cooperation of the students in order for it to work.

Although
this inquiry approach might seem only workable for writing workshops, I come to
think that it will not teach only writing because it will require students to
also read the given texts with the mindset of writers, from which they will
learn about the writing genre itself and how to read like writers at the same
time. Also since this approach allows
students to create their own syllabus (what they want to learn or improve on),
students will have a greater chance to improve on what they need the most help
with. With this great idea of teaching
writing, I’d say Language Arts class could be even renamed as writing workshop
class. :)
Jin,
ReplyDeleteI also found the inquiry approach to writing instruction really interesting! Especially the idea that the curriculum should be informed by instruction. I like how you refer to it as a "democratic way of operating a class." Designing the ELA classroom as a writing workshop gives students a stronger voice in the classroom and as a result, I think students would be more invested in learning. The inquiry stance also advocates for a more student-centered learning environment which is something I can definitely get on board with. I like that you bring up the fact that creating a writing workshop classroom environment requires planning and structure as well as instruction in areas aside from writing like reading skills and vocabulary. While I personally like the idea of an inquiry approach to writing instruction, I think that mandated curricula and standards prevent the classroom from functioning as a true writing workshop for the time being.
I agree with the last part of Callie's comment here. It would be difficult to simply "jump" into a writing workshop the way you have described it. Don't get me wrong--this is an incredible idea. To democratize the writing classroom will definitely foster a sense of community and creativity that is unavailable for current students in English classrooms across the nation. But it would be difficult to implement right away with all of the mandates and standards. However, to allow some classroom time for writing workshop the way that we have read about, little by little, would be a great idea. It would help give the students a sense of merit and self-worth in the classroom and in the writing process.
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