Writer Identity and the Teaching and Learning of Writing

Writer Identity and the Teaching and Learning of Writing is a groundbreaking book which addresses what it really means to identify as a writer in educational contexts and the implications for writing pedagogy. It conceptualises writers’ identities, and draws upon empirical studies to explore their construction, enactment and performance. Focusing largely on teachers’ identities and practices as writers and the writer identities of primary and secondary students, it also encompasses the perspectives of professional writers and highlights promising new directions for research. With four interlinked sections, this book offers:

• Nuanced understandings of how writer identities are shaped and formed
• Insights into how classroom practice changes when teachers position themselves as writers alongside their students
• New understandings of what this positioning means for students’ identities as writers and writing pedagogy
• Illuminating case studies mapping young peoples’ writing trajectories.

With an international team of contributors, the book offers a global perspectives on this vital topic, and makes a new and strongly theorised contribution to the field. Viewing writer identity as fluid and multifaceted, this book is important reading for practicing teachers, student teachers, educational researchers and practitioners currently undertaking postgraduate studies.

Contributors include: Teresa Cremin, Terry Locke, Sally Baker, Josephine Brady, Diane Collier, Nikolaj Elf, Ian Eyres, Theresa Lillis, Marilyn McKinney, Denise Morgan, Debra Myhill, Mary Ryan, Kristin Stang, Chris Street, Anne Whitney, and Rebecca Woodard.

Teresa Cremin is Professor of Education (Literacy) at The Open University, UK.

Terry Locke is Professor of Arts and Language Education at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.