How I Wish I’d Taught Writing

There are four myths that hinder the teaching of writing. First, that it is so cognitively complex that there can be no established pedagogy that captures that complexity in a rational and teachable progression. Second, that the research on teaching writing is so thin as to be almost irrelevant. Third, that reading and writing are inverses and so long as we teach reading we are per se teaching writing. Fourth, that writing is a creative form and is therefore a divine gift rather than a teachable social necessity. Through analysis of the substantial and growing research into writing, this book aims to dispel all four myths and offer a clear, research-led and unambiguous companion to the DfE Writing Framework on how writing is best taught in primary schools.