ORIGIN

The National Writing Project (NWP) in the United States (US) is a network of about 200 university-affiliated sites across the US with select international partnerships. Administered out of the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, the mission of the project is to improve the teaching and learning of writing in English in schools by recognizing the primary importance of teacher knowledge, expertise and leadership. What is known about the teaching of English comes not only from the research but also from the practice of “excellent” teachers in the field.

In 2002, the Faculty of Education of The Chinese University of Hong Kong became the NWP’s first site in Asia.

In 2007, in recognition of its achievements and quality work in Hong Kong, the WrITE Project was designated as the first NWP international associated site.

WHY WRITING?

For over 30 years, the NWP has chosen to make the teaching of writing the centerpiece of its approach to educational reform. Why focus on writing? Writing is, of course, an important key to academic and personal success. In schools, writing is often a gatekeeper and is central to achievement in academic subjects and success in examination programmes. And in our increasingly information-driven global economy, writing is inescapable in the conduct of business, on the Internet, and in the cultural arena. But there are more important reasons for focusing on writing. Writing is thought made visible. When we write, we are able to gain distance on our thoughts, stand back from them, assess and revise them, and look for patterns in our thinking over time. Writing supports metacognition. Writing also allows us to exchange ideas with a wide range of people and to communicate across distances and over time.

In an effective writing classroom, though, writing is improved through attention to all the language arts. Good writers read carefully, listen attentively, and explore ideas through talk while in the midst of writing. Effective writing classrooms are highly interactive places where students use and practice language, develop language awareness, and build confidence as language users. In this way, improving writing improves both thinking and language use across domains and content areas.

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