New scheme to target pupils with gift for writing

Budding young writers are going to be given a chance to shine in a new initiative soon to be launched by the Institute for Child and Parent Learning Support, which is part of the Foundation for Educational Services.

Klabb Kittieba Zghar (Young Writers` Club) will help state-school children between the ages of eight and 13 polish their writing skills and then publish their best work.

The club`s writing workshops, to be run on Saturday mornings, will engage tutors who have been trained in a "child-centred" method known as the `Writing Process`. This method encourages children to draw inspiration from their own experiences and allows them to develop their writing skills at their own pace.

Sandro Spiteri, national co-ordinator of the institute, said the workshops would be very innovative. "Children will be helping each other explore the magical world of writing."

He explained how the method to be used was different to the traditional way of teaching writing:

"What often happens in a traditional classroom setting is that the teacher is mainly present at the beginning of a writing assignment, when the ideas are being generated, and at the end, to assess and mark the finished tasks.

"This is a bit of a `black box` approach - the act of writing itself remains something of a mystery. The child is often alone precisely when help is most needed - when the writing is happening," said Mr Spiteri.

"In the Writing Process method, on the other hand, the teacher is present in a special way during the crafting of the texts, as a `master-writer`, an attentive audience and a giver of feedback. Gradually, the child-writer starts needing the teacher less and less as a giver of titles and writing prompts. Writing assessment becomes an integral part of the revising process.

"By helping the child learn how to exchange ideas with other children in the workshop, tutors will be released from the burden of being the only source of feedback. Instead, they have more time to go around the class and concentrate on the individual needs of each child.

"And the tutors will be co-writers, because the best way to teach anything is to model it."

The method works, said Mr Spiteri. It also supports the emphasis of the new curriculum on autonomous learning, collaborative learning, formative assessment and creative self-expression.

"The Club will not involve any competition," he stressed. "We are looking for ways of publishing the children`s material, perhaps on the internet or through Hilti Tezor, which is a scheme whereby the institute is going to publish Maltese books for children."

The Writing Process method is taught locally to teachers by the Malta Writing Programme, which is a project of the Institute of Linguistics with the collaboration of the Education Division. The approach is already being implemented gradually in more than 40 schools in both state and private sectors.

Initially the club will only be open to 30 or 40 pupils from upper primary school, but the foundation hopes to take in students from early secondary classes in the next scholastic year.

All those requiring more information may contact Ms Josephine Saliba, programme animator, on 21455600/07or e-mail fes@gov.mt.