Teachers as Writers: Implications for Identity

Writers’ identities matter: influenced by personal histories and experiences, our identities as writers influence the way in which we approach writing and are likely to influence our teaching of writing. Teachers’ writing identities deserve more recognition and development in schooling. This PETAA paper, drawing upon research in this area, seeks to enable teachers to reflect upon themselves as writers outside the school context, and explores multiple ways in which teachers can model being a writer in the classroom. It provides some examples and illustrations of the benefits and challenges involved in teachers’ positioning themselves as writers in the classroom.