Strong literacy skills are key to success in school and in realising one’s potential in adult life. They are linked to levels of employment, income and participation in social and civic life. But writing is more than that, it is a fundamental human activity which we use to fulfil many purposes in life: to create, imagine, amuse, inform, stay in touch, explain, remember, learn, report, influence or discover new insights. There is strong evidence from international studies that writing supports development of other key skills such as oral language and reading. Importantly, providing opportunities for young children (4–6-year-olds) to compose even before they can spell conventionally, has been found to not only benefit writing processes but has also play a causal role in later proficient reading development.

Despite such evidence, national and international studies reveal that rarely is sufficient time devoted to writing instruction in schools and that teachers require further support to optimise teaching in ways that align with research findings on effective practice. Additionally, children’s and teachers’ attitudes towards writing and their sense of self-efficacy as writers impact on writing development and how time is used in classrooms.

The Teaching of Writing in Write to Read Partner Schools

This strand of research forms part of the Write to Read initiative which seeks to investigate how best to support schools in adopting research-informed approaches to literacy instruction that not only enhance literacy outcomes for children but support schools in developing as communities of engaged readers, writers, thinkers and creators. Customised onsite professional development was provided by literacy coaches to build teachers’ capacity to design and implement an evidence-based writing workshop.  The study adopted a mixed methods approach and was conducted over several phases across four years in eight schools designated as disadvantaged. Questionnaires were administered to all classroom and learning support teachers in years one and three while in year four, individual in-depth interviews were conducted with randomly selected teachers across all class levels (4–12-year-olds). This allowed us to explore how teachers’ practices and perceptions of children’s writing development had evolved over time, along with their views on successes and challenges.

Customised Professional Development is Key to Success

Writing, like any skill, requires adequate time for growth and development. Teachers were now more aware of the value in providing daily time for writing and were largely successful in designing and implementing a writing workshop approach within the broader Write to Read literacy framework. Professional development, including observation, feedback and demonstration by literacy coaches, contributed to high levels of teacher confidence in such areas as planning, teaching fiction and non-fiction writing genres, and analysing writing samples to inform instruction. Teachers noted many improvements amongst children including enhanced motivation to write, positive attitudes towards writing, increased volume of writing and knowledge of writing genres, better writing expression and ability to respond and give feedback to peers in share sessions. While it took time for some teachers of infant classes to embrace this new daily emphasis on writing, by the end of the four years most reported having greater expectations for young children’s writing development and highlighted its benefit to children’s motivation, sense of self-efficacy and skill development.    

Writing is a complex act and complex to teach, so it is no surprise that teachers also highlighted areas in which they would like further support including some aspects of the craft of writing, including further enhancing writing vocabulary, supporting pupils to set goals for writing, selecting mentor texts to teach writing genres, and using a rubric to assess writing development. A further interesting finding was that teachers reported that found the process exciting, professionally stimulating and that it had reignited a love of teaching literacy.

Longitudinal Research: Building an Evidence Base on Literacy in DEIS Schools

There is a dearth of longitudinal research on writing development in Ireland and internationally. This study sheds light on the process of change and the realities and complexities facing teachers and schools in areas of designated disadvantage. Overall, much was achieved in these schools and the majority teachers showed evidence of implementing research-informed practices.  This provided a firm basis for further development, particularly in relation to greater specificity in teaching and using assessment data to inform teaching. However, there is still considerable work to be done in relation to writing instruction in schools in general and in DEIS schools in particular.  Arising from this strand of research, a Write to Read writing rubric was developed to support formative assessment of children’s writing and a research-to-practice book: Teaching and Assessing Writing in the Primary School: A Whole School Approach is forthcoming (Routledge, 2024)   

Teachers are on a continuum and have varying levels of experience and expertise; further research will focus on how best to tailor the content and format of professional development to best meet these varied needs, build leadership capacity and sustain changes to practices schoolwide. It will also investigate the impact of formative assessment on children’s writing development; it will capture teachers’ and children’s voices as they use the rubric and develop the language to provide specific feedback on the quality of writing.

Read the full study here [Open Access]

A book featuring the research is forthcoming in December 2024: Teaching and assessing writing in the primary school: A whole school approach, Routledge UK