by Todd Pheifer

Created on: July 04, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2009

The love of writing

The concept of writing across the curriculum is certainly not difficult for most people to understand, but the application can be extremely complicated and difficult to measure in certain educational settings. In addition, not all educators are "sold" on the specific importance of writing in particular contexts. This can make the challenge even harder for some administrators and teachers, especially if certain disciplines are forced to be involved.

Personal choices

Academic freedom is an important part of education, but it can be an obstacle when some people want others to follow their lead. Teachers take their classroom very seriously, and they are not always open to others telling them how and what to teach. Therefore, design and implementation of writing strategies can be crucial. Here are a few thoughts on how to implement interdisciplinary learning through a methodology of writing across the school curriculum.

Support and backup

Probably the most important part of implementing writing across the curriculum is to have "buy in" from all involved parties. This includes a variety of constituencies but mostly it is about teachers and administrators being on the "same page." Sometimes people will give token support but won't put real effort into making something work. Other times certain people will flatly oppose writing, either because they do not believe in the overall importance of writing, or because they do not find it appropriate for certain subjects.

Fear and trembling

Some teachers may acknowledge the importance of writing, but they may feel ill equipped to include it in their subject matter. In order to compensate for these feelings, policy makers should have tools and strategies for implementing writing opportunities in different subject areas. Granted, it may be difficult to quickly bring people "up to speed" on how to critically evaluate a piece of writing, but with the proper guidance, teachers in various disciplines can usually find something that is appropriate to their area of expertise.

Sometimes less is more

Sometimes a good strategy is to start small and build up to larger writing projects over time. One reason that people avoid writing in certain subjects is that they fear it will be too much work. By implementing shorter writing projects that are more manageable, teachers may find that writing assignments are more easily included in the curriculum. Granted, "shorter" is a relative term, but many teachers have a sense of how to implement new material into their curriculum without a great disturbance to their flow.

Varied style

Implementing writing across the curriculum is often more successful when teachers use varied styles of writing to accomplish their purposes. This includes formal research papers, stories, poems, articles, and essays. Writing is a broad medium, but it is certainly not generic in terms of educational output. Therefore, teachers may find that experimenting with various types of writing may be helpful when devising the best "fit" for a particular class.

Evaluative measures

Finally, writing across the curriculum must have some sort of methodology for evaluating effectiveness. As with other parts of the curriculum, teachers must connect curriculum, lesson plans, and assignments in order to link writing activities to educational outcomes. Obviously, evaluating curriculum can be a complex endeavor, but with proper planning and an understanding of competencies, teachers may find writing to be a key part of educating their students. Again, writing is an important part of the educational process, but it must start with support and be quickly followed by careful planning and thoughtful implementation.

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