Learning to unleash the writer within

I refer to the article written by MEP David Casa (November 27) with the title The Dinosaurs In Education. Mr Casa refers to writing opportunities children in Australia experience. I cannot but agree with him; indeed, this is not a new concept for many children in our schools in Malta.

Too often, writing is viewed as a burdensome task that should be hurried and completed. Without a real audience, writing becomes soulless, simply task-oriented. For the last seven years the Malta Writing Programme (MWP), one of the main programmes run by the Foundation for Educational Services, has been approaching the teaching of writing from a different and innovative perspective. Backed by ongoing teachers' reflective practice and action research, the MWP propagates the use of different writing strategies that centre on the writer as the maker of meaning for self-expression and communication, as highlighted in the national curriculum. Over the past seven years thousands of children in Maltese schools have benefited from this way of teaching writing that encourages them to express themselves, to discover and unleash the writer within.

In his article, Mr Casa refers to the concept of invented spelling whereby beginning writers are encouraged to put their ideas down on paper, to focus on the message and content rather than on correctness in terms of grammar and punctuation. Of course this does not mean that anything goes. There is rigour and method even in this writing process. As Mr Casa rightly points out, fluency later leads to accuracy. As Alisa Daniels writes: "Beginning with a picture, I tell my story ... I stress that I do not need to know all of the words to tell my story. I can always come back and fix things later. For now, I only need to tell my story".

Writers need to know that writing is valued and that it has a purpose and an audience beyond the classroom.

The foundation has an online anthology of writings by students, parents and teachers, available on www.fes.org.mt/programmes/m_home.html. It will also soon be publishing Qatra Inka, a children's anthology comprised of writings submitted by children who have enthusiastically participated in past writing clubs organised by the MWP.