Research School Network: Disciplinary Literacy A summary of the Authentic Writer Conference

Teaching writing is everyone’s responsibility

Earlier this week, our Director, Louise Quinn, spoke at the Authentic Writers Conference in Durham alongside Thomas Martell from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). This blog summarises three key messages from their session that was based on the EEF’s suite of literacy Guidance Reports.

1. Teaching pupils to write is everyone’s responsibility

Writing is (probably) harder than you think
Why should all teachers support pupils to become effective writers?

Is it because strong writing is needed to excel in exams? Is it because learning to write well can help secure a more fulfilling career and rewarding life? Is it because improving writing also improve reading? Is it simply necessary to ensure the extensive practice required to become an effective writer?

The answer to each of these questions is probably yes, but there is another crucial reason. Writing should be prioritised within every subject because each subject has its own distinctive language, ways of knowing, doing and communicating. While some of the heavy lifting of the teaching of writing will happen in literacy and English lessons, pupils should be taught to write like scientists in their science lessons and historians in history lessons.

To ensure that learning is effective and efficient, it may help to consider what is unique about your subject discipline in terms of writing and what is common with other subject disciplines. Making the most of commonalities, for instance by using some common approaches, while respecting the distinctiveness of each subject, offers real promise.

2. Writing is (probably) harder than you think

Writing is tough because it requires a combination of three distinct processes. Each of these processes is challenging and coordinating the three simultaneously can overload working memory. Therefore, it is important to break down complex writing tasks and support pupils to become increasingly fluent in each of the processes.

An often overlooked aspect of writing is transcription, which includes handwriting and spelling. While pupils are often encouraged to write neatly, how often do we prioritise speed?

Yet the evidence is clear that fluent handwriting is necessary for effective writing so that the limited working memory can be focused on composition and executive function. If you want to see the effect of slow transcription try typing with one finger or handwriting in block capitals.


Do you know the pupils who struggle with transcription? Do you know how you can support them?

3. Break down writing tasks

Breaking down the complex task of writing into more manageable activities and supporting pupils to become fluent with them is a promising approach. There are many ways of doing this from ensuring that pupils transcription skills become fluent through to providing structured pre-writing activities. For example, recapping key knowledge can support writing.

Purposeful dialogue can also support pupils to become more fluent with the compositional aspects of writing. However, evidence from the EEF’s literacy Guidance Reports, as well as the Teaching and Learning Toolkit, highlight that careful implementation is important. For example, approaches that aim to explicitly develop spoken vocabulary work best when they are related to current content being studied in school, and when they involve active and meaningful use of new vocabulary.

Find out more about the evidence about writing. Read the EEF’s literacy guidance reports here

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