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Teacher Feature...
Direction for Teachers of Creative Writing
(continued from page 8)
by Dan Lukiv
(Condensed from Lived School Experiences That Encouraged one Person to Become a Creative Writer, a 2002 research study completed as part of the MEd requirements at The University of Northern British Columbia)
Copyright © 2002 by Dan Lukiv. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted in any form or through any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without written consent from the author.
Theme Four--Flights of Imagination
Teachers who allow students reasonable opportunities to daydream; who openly value flights of imagination, or "lateral-thinking ecstasy" (Lukiv, 2001b, p. 17); who display passionate interest in the connotative and imagistic "life" of words; and who provide texts rich in connotative and imagistic words or phrases may be encouraging some students to become creative writers. Many of The Ministry's (1996a, 1996b, 1996c) resources just referred to in "Theme Three--Uninterrupted Language Experiences" could serve as connotative and imagistic fuel for students' imaginations.
Theme Five--Verbally Punning and Joking and Informing Others
Teachers who allow, within the limits of reason, students in class to pun and joke and verbally inform others about what they have learned may be encouraging some of them to become creative writers. These teachers provide a classroom stage on which students "manipulate language for...expression" (The Ministry, 1996a, 1996b, 1996c, p. 3), which refers precisely to what writers do with language.
Theme Six--The Freedom of Writing Down Thoughts and Having Those Thoughts Valued
Teachers who passionately discuss with their students thoughts and feelings based on poetry and fiction texts read in class, and who openly value students' attempts to write down those thoughts and feelings may be encouraging some of them to become creative writers. The Ministry (1996a, 1996b, 1996c) speaks frequently about the benefits and pleasures of writing and the need for teachers to value their students' efforts.
Theme Seven--The Freedom of Choice of Reading Material
Teachers who encourage students to explore literature through freedom of choice and through easy access to literature may be encouraging some of them to become creative writers. I refer to many avenues in the subsection "Theme One--Silent Reading of Poetry and Fiction" that teachers could use to provide literary freedom of choice, and The Ministry (1996a, 1996b, 1996c) lists a great library of literary resources that could also provide that freedom.
Theme Eight--Sound Direction From Compassionate Teachers
Teachers, notably compassionate, who provide students sound direction about how to write well may be encouraging some of them to become creative writers. The feedback these teachers provide helps students do the very work of writing: "manipulat[ing] language for...expression" (The Ministry, 1996a, 1996b, 1996c, p. 3).
Further Research
This study launches a new area of study. I say new because my suspended literature review located no other hermeneutic phenomenological investigations into what experiences in school have encouraged other people to become writers. Comments here and there such as I have found (Hodgins, 1993; Polanyi, 2002) that mention events in school that encouraged or apparently encouraged some to become creative writers do exist, but no concentrated discussion based on in depth interviewing exists to my knowledge. I encourage researchers interested in my research question to consider a hermeneutic phenomenological approach.
Arthur, now that he has lived through this kind of study, wishes he had done the same kind in his graduate studies. He has found the experience illuminating. The wealth and truth of the eight themes astound him. They fill him with wonder, and the recommendations validate his experiences, make them seem worth studying.
I have found the experience illuminating. It fills me with wonder. I have taught senior high school creative writing courses for seven years, and I taught creative writing to primary students for three years (Lukiv, 2002), generally basing my teaching on my own experiences. But now I have Arthur's experiences too. I feel better equipped to teach creative writing in the future. I consider Arthur's eight themes alongside my own experiences in school that encouraged me to take up creative writing as a pastime and as a profession, and that prompts me to think about what might work for students, what might encourage some to take up creative writing. I have no rules here, simply direction.
Other researchers who add conclusions and recommendations through hermeneutic phenomenological study of my research question to the body of this study's conclusions and recommendations will add depth and breadth to that direction. Researchers could alter the research question to consider university as opposed to elementary school and high school experiences, or to consider fiction writers as opposed to poets. Eventually, a body of knowledge, possibly even a "preponderance of evidence" (McMillan & Schumacher, 1997, p. 391), based on experiences from the continuum of education that poets, fiction writers, and dramatists have had could crystallize into direction in language arts and creative writing programs that better "germinates" future poets, fiction writers, and dramatists.
A Checklist for Teachers
- __Do I provide opportunities for students to read poetry and fiction silently?
- __Do I provide quality oral reading of poetry and fiction in class?
- __Do I provide class singsongs?
- __Do I provide language experiences--movies, plays, novels, short story and poetry collections, scripts, and electronic media--uninterrupted by questions or other assignments?
- __Do I provide reasonable opportunities for students to daydream, to enjoy flights of imagination fuelled by the connotative and imagistic value of words?
- __Do I provide reasonable opportunities for students to pun and joke and verbally inform others about what they have learned?
- __Do I passionately discuss with students thoughts and feelings based on poetry and fiction texts read in class, and do I openly value their attempts to write down those thoughts and feelings?
- __Do I provide opportunities for students to explore literature through freedom of choice?
- __Do I compassionately provide sound direction about how to write well?
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