We are working in partnership with Northumbria University to host Caroline Murphy’s PhD studentship looking at how teachers’ experience of practising creative writing and working with a writer contributes to creative writing teaching in primary and secondary education. She will use the North East pilot of Well Versed (See Education section) as her field of study. Here she explains the project:
 

What do poets have to offer teachers in developing creative writing pedagogy?
Does the experience of engaging in their own creative writing influence teachers’ approaches in the classroom?

The problem
Writing in schools presents intractable difficulties. Despite over a decade of national strategy aimed at improving writing, attainment levels remain stubbornly below government targets. Since the introduction of the National Literacy Strategy in 1998, no real progress has been made in the most persistent areas of underachievement. There is a considerable gender gap in attainment, with girls outperforming boys at every key stage. The gap is wider in writing than in reading, and the attainment of white working class boys remains particularly low. Underachievement is a particular problem for the North East, where attainment in GCSE English is among the worst in the country.

The context
Poetry writing occupies complex ground in educational policy. For many years it has been located within literacy strategy, but some teachers and researchers feel that the focus on technical and functional aspects of literacy has changed the way that literature and creative writing are taught, narrowing opportunities for creative engagement, alienating learners, and failing in its mission to raise standards. Recently education policy has expressed an increasing interest in creativity as a way of raising engagement and attainment. Ofsted’s most recent English subject report extends this to the development of teachers’ own creative skills, suggesting that government must find ways to ‘increase teachers’ own confidence as writers’ if standards are to improve. The report suggests that teachers lack the confidence, skill and knowledge required to teach creative writing successfully.

The research
A decade of instrumental cultural policy has enabled growth in the scale and diversity of writers’ work with schools. There are more long-term residencies, more cross-artform collaborations, and professional development for teachers is more likely to be an aspiration of partnership. However, schools still most often turn to writers in search of tips, tricks, and toolkits that can be used to boost creative writing skills. There has been little research into either what more writers have to offer in the pedagogical process, or how the experience of taking part in creative writing might influence teachers’ pedagogy. My research will explore these questions through a case study of four schools, focusing on poetry writing. The research will articulate the pedagogical tendencies of poets and writers, and describe the impact of engaging in creative writing on pedagogical approaches in the classroom. I hope that this research will increase understanding of what happens when writers and teachers work together, and will help to develop knowledge about the role of writers in relation to current developments in cultural and education policy.