What would happen if those with the power of the purse experienced the power of NWP?
In 1985 as a graduate student at the University of Iowa, I spent lots of time in classrooms, learning alongside teachers who were starting to implement some of the transformative practices associated with writing workshop -- practices such as inviting children to choose their own topics to write about, sharing their writing with groups of other writers in their class, publishing their own books, setting goals for themselves as writers because they had teachers who created classroom cultures that respected and honored them as learners. I was intrigued at their engagement -- both children and teachers. It was just like Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins, and Jane Hansen were writing about in books that kept me awake nights as I read with ever-increasing excitement.
In 1988 I had accepted a position at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. But before I left the midwest, I had the privilege of being invited to attend the Iowa Writing Project. It seemed like every waking (and sleeping) hour that summer was spent writing or thinking about writing. I was consumed, intrigued, passionate. I was living and breathing writing as a writer, as a teacher, and as a teacher educator. I thought endlessly about how critical it was to experience what it meant to be writer - a solitary one as well as a writer in a community of writers. I wrote and thought and talked about how I would take these experiences with me as I left the lush, green cornfields and the amazing Iowa classrooms to head for the desert, neon lights, and the unknown.
Those were the early years, and now a quarter of a century later still living in the desert, I am still just as passionate, engaged, intrigued, and consumed by writing project work. Through the years, many programs, approaches, and quick fixes have come and gone. I've worked alongside beginning teachers and veteran teachers in classrooms as part of my university "job", and I've had the honor of engaging with the Southern Nevada Writing Project teachers as a co-director and since 2009 as director. There are amazing stories of impact here -- summer writing camps for kids, professional development for teachers who come back for more, a family writing project that brings together parents, kids and teachers of all ages and cultures to write together and develop lasting bonds. Other teachers study their practice through teacher research groups and thereby make a difference in student learning.
Over and over again, the magic and intensity of a summer institute that revolves around core principles and beliefs of teachers writing, reading, and learning together is revealed. Picture 200 writing project summer institutes across the country engaged in similar ways, talking to each other and sharing writing through the ingenuity of the NWP e-anthology. Consider the impact on the teaching of writing that results from these teachers who take back to their classrooms and colleagues what they have learned and experienced. It's huge and important -- even though we have so much more work to do.
Think about how these educators develop leadership skills that also impact schools, families, and communities. It's astounding that an organization that offers so much to so many for such minimal funding has been cut from the national budget. The National Writing Project has been a lifeline to many; it has helped to keep expert teachers of writing in the profession through the support of a network of local sites involved in rigorous study and documentation, through an openness to inquiry and possibility, and through honoring and respecting -- truly honoring and respecting all learners.
The serendipitous moment that opened a new world for me in 1988 continues to nourish me and so many like me in the NWP network. We will go on because the strength that lies in democratic principles and respect for learners is ingrained in our hearts and souls. If only those with the power of the purse could experience the power of the writing project! Can we trust the process?
