Expressive Writing:
The Key to Learning
By Clarice Dankers
Expressive writing plays a key role in achieving our goals—whether we understand what a split infinitive is or not!
In Teaching with Writing, Toby Fulwiler presents the findings of a 1981 study of writing in American schools that I believe is still valid today—even in universities and corporate training rooms across the country.
The study found that the majority of assignments involved transactional writing—the kind used to communicate information (as in essays and business letters).
The second most common type of writing was mechanical—the kind used to fill in the blanks, copy information off the blackboard, and take notes. In fact the study found that mechanical writing represented 24 percent of all classroom activity!
Imaginative writing—the kind used, for example, in writing poetry—came in a distant third and only occurred in English classes.
The fourth kind of writing—expressive—was almost completely absent from the classroom.
Expressive writing is the kind of writing we do for ourselves. It is when we write our own thoughts down in order to play with an idea, look at it from different angles, and explore relationships.In other words, the study concluded that “writing was taught almost exclusively as a means to communicate information rather than as a means to gain insight, develop ideas, or solve problems.”
Why Expressive Writing Is So Powerful
This does all of us a great disservice because expressive writing is one of the most important tools we have for learning—whether or not we understand what a split infinitive is or where a colon should go!
According to Fulwiler,
Writing is basic to thinking about, and learning, knowledge in all fields.
Expressive writing helps us brainstorm ideas, invent new solutions, and acquire and synthesize knowledge. It helps us discover what we really think and feel about a subject. And it helps us come up with insights that would otherwise have remained unconscious.
James Van Allen expressed this really well when he said:
The mere process of writing is one of the most powerful tools we have for clarifying our own thinking. I seldom get to the level of a publishable manuscript without a great deal of self torture and at least three drafts. My desk is littered with rejected attempts as I proceed. But there is a reward. I am never so clear about a matter as when I have just finished writing about it. The writing process itself produces that clarity. Indeed, I often write memoranda to myself solely for the purpose of clearing up my own thinking.
Clearly, then, expressive writing plays a key role in our ability to learn, grow, and achieve our goals.
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