Schrijfonderwijs in de praktijk

Abstract

This article considers the teaching of writing strategies (composition) in the upper forms (6 and 7) of primary schools in the Netherlands using the latest curriculum 'Zin in taal'. The question guiding the research was: to what extent do teachers who work with this curriculum use adequate didactics? Scientific literature on writing didactics provided a frame of reference for the quality of teaching writing strategies. In classroom observations 30 tasks from the curriculum have been monitored during three subsequent lessons. The observations showed that teachers only partly used adequate didactics. They focus on preparatory activities, stimulate pupils' active input and strongly guide writing strategies in practice, but hardly use pupils' mutual interaction or practice methodological reflection afterward. Interviews with the teachers show that within the school teams hardly any attention has been given to the implementation of the new curriculum and that refreshing courses about the teaching of writing strategies would be very welcome.