Writing Identity and Reflection in the Teaching World

The articles for this week focused on the use of "authentic" writing in teaching ("Get Real: Instructional Implications for Authentic Writing Activities" by Carly D. Lidvall) and the teacher as a writer ("Teacher-Writers: Then, Now, and Next" by Anne Elrod Whitney, Troy Hicks, Leah Zuidema, James E. Fredricksen, and Robert P. Yagelski). I feel that these two concepts can, and should, go hand-in-hand.  If a teacher of writing is herself a writer, then students will have the opportunity to see and understand authentic writing on a daily (or however often the class meets) basis.

In Lidvall's essay, she says that "students must see [a] real, human reason behind their writing if they are going to engage in the writing process" (5).  What could be a better object lesson for this concept than a teacher who actively writes and publishes work in a variety of genres?  Although Whitney et. al. primarily talk about teachers writing and publishing in pedagogical research outlets, a teacher who does any kind of product-oriented writing with a purpose, a set audience, motivation, and a choice of subject matter (Lidvall 6-8) can lead their students through authentic writing activities.  For example, even if a teacher has only published poems, they are still able to speak firsthand about "real world [writing] situations" (Lidvall 3).  They've struggled through difficult prewriting and drafting situations, and they've felt the anxious pride of seeing their audience react to their work.  Such a teacher is likely to be more secure in his/her writer identity and be able to talk about parts of the writing process with greater credibility, authority, and ease.  In the words of Whitney and their team, they can "[be] authors in every sense: professionals who claim authority with their own words and their work" (Whitney et. al. 179)   Knowing that their teacher is also a professional writer, the students will see writing as a part of a real person's daily routine and professional life.  It makes writing that much more relevant.  Even if a teacher doesn't write for publication, they can use "personal pieces of writing [like] letters, postcards, drafts, [or] poems [...] to show students that writing is connected to the world, not just school" (Routman, 2000 as cited in Lidvall 15).  In other words, if a teacher has a writer identity and makes it known openly to his/her students, the students are more likely to develop a writer identity themselves.

Whitney et. al. emphasize the opportunity that writing as a teacher presents for reflection and growth, both as an educator and a writer.  As an example, they say that "personal and professional writing helped [National Writing Project] teachers claim identities as writers and make concomitant shifts in teaching practices" (Whitney, 2009b as cited in Whitney et. al. 179).  In order to write about their experiences and theories in teaching, teacher-writers must reflect upon them.  As we learned last week from Yancey's article, this reflection is a beneficial psychological process for not only the one doing the reflecting, but those with whom they share an academic field or daily contact.  By reflecting, writing, and sharing research with other teachers, teachers are able to help themselves and their community members to become better teachers.  They are also able to reaffirm or maintain their writer identities, which as I asserted above, will enable them to have greater authority in the classroom.