Friday 8 April 2016

I am a reluctant writer.

I shudder when I hear "sharing's caring", mainly because out of ignorance as I have not really thought about the meaning by the saying.

Manaiakalani's pedagogy is centred on learn, create and share and as I near the end of my first term of teaching, it is only now where I am starting to really see the links with how I am designing learning for my learners and why we share our learning.

With my literacy groups, I am really hitting a wall when we discuss our audience for our writing.  They have a love of writing but this is very intrinsic and focused on their sphere of influence.  In other words, they love to free write for themselves, but the reluctance comes when we discuss sharing our work with others.  I have only begun to scratch the surface with the reasons why this exists and it will be a focus for me as I move into the next term and working with them.

Upon reflection, I find that I am suffering from similar issues as the learners.  I do enjoy writing and have written as a hobby for a number of years now, however, there would be only a handful of people that know this as I do not share my writing with others.  My own reluctance comes from the fear of being seen as a "poor" writer and the feedback that I would receive.


Add this to this that I am now seeing real shift in my own practice by being more open and authentic with both my colleagues and learners.  How can I continue this trajectory moving into next term?

5 comments:

  1. I do look forward to seeing where this takes you as a learner and writer, and the children you teach. I personally appreciate that the moment I 'Share' represents a completion moment. It is not always a 'finished' moment, but it represents a milestone in a process showing I am ready to invite an audience to participate.

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    1. Thanks Dorothy, am really looking forward to sharing my writing more now. I am positive the links between my own fear as a writer and my learners will help me overcome some of these motivation obstacles.

      I like your thoughts about the share aspect and am keen to discuss in more detail to get some ideas.

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  2. It's great that you are more open to sharing your own writing now Heath; I'm sure both you and your learners will benefit from this!

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    1. Thanks for the feedback Danni, I am really excited to share more now and am sure that my learners would love to hear about how I am developing as a writer!

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  3. Heath I have always had faith in your ability to write and enjoy reading what you write. We don't have to write like everyone else just develop our own unique style. Otherwise it would be like reading the World Book Encyclopaedia or following the APA referencing guidelines! What you share are nuggets of gold. Nga mihi

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Your thoughts and feedback are appreciated.