An Inspiring Book – Relevant and Easy to read; Long roads, short distances: Teaching writing and writing teachers

I have just finished reading one of the second hand books I bought from Better World Books.

15 minutes free writing:

I was surprised to find this book in the catalogue and even more surprised when I began reading it. This narrative was written ten years ago but very much reflects the type of work I am doing and the type of texts I am producing. 

Miller Power works (worked?) with students learning to be teachers and writing teachers and taught them methodology through writing. Her course was based on the students reflecting and writing narratives and on the author responding at length to the stories which appeared in journals and assignments.

I quickly connected to Miller Power’s style and chose to read this book without pencil in hand, something I rarely do. There was something about the name of the book and the opening texts which signalled to me that this short book would be read and reread by me.

There are a variety of texts in the book, many written by students.

Some of the important messages for me at this stage are:

  • Somebody else wrote of her experiences teaching writing teachers to write. There are many more texts out there waiting for me to discover them.
  • It is extremely interesting to read narratives of someone else’s work, somewhere else in a different context. Many details are different but many of the dilemmas, difficulties and triumphs are similar.
  • Jumping to conclusions about students or teachers is a terrible mistake. listening is the only real way to avoid it. (It relates to my conclusion that I must spend much more time and effort getting to know the teachers and for them to gain trust in each other, early on in the course).
  • Very often personal narratives which seem unrelated at first glance, turn out to be very relevant to teaching writing.
  • The view that writing is a born trait is more common than I thought it was.
  • A short course, CAN make a difference, though not always.
  • Our own experiences can and should be utilized in our teaching.

I promise there will be more…

 

Miller Power, B. (1997). Long roads, short distances: Teaching writing and writing teachers.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

 

 

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