Teacher Leadership in Writing — a Journey Forward
Eleven years ago, the Greater Madison Writing Project was embarking on our inaugural summer institute. Perhaps some of you were there — excited, anxious — willing to begin a journey not only for yourself, but for our site. We didn’t know what the future would hold; the months that followed Act 10 caused a lot of distress and change for educators and public workers. Nonetheless, coming together in community in the face of unknowns cultivated connection, inspiration, new learning, opportunities to share and grow, important research and writing — all of which changed the trajectories of our careers and how we thought about ourselves as educators. Subsequent summer institutes did not follow in the immediate aftermath of such turmoil, but they were informed by that activist spirit and continued to offer educators across grade levels, content areas, and schools the same opportunities to write, reflect, imagine, collaborate and grow.
Two years ago, we found ourselves amongst more devastation and turmoil than any of us could have ever imagined. Between a raging pandemic, the murder of George Floyd, and political strife, you might still remember the feeling that education was experiencing a collective pause; abruptly removed from our schools and classrooms, we let go of standardized testing, rigid curricular expectations, exclusionary policies. We tried to help students navigate zoom classrooms in order to see one another, share how much we missed each other, and ask everyone how they were fairing. Amidst these overwhelming challenges, many of us believed the future might yield something better. We dreamed of returning to classrooms that were grounded in equitable educational pedagogy, student-centered, responsive, and healing places.
And so we gathered together again, but in a revised institute responsive to the moment and needs. What We Can Become brought forward not only a set of design principles for Culturally Sustaining Learning Partnerships but resources, stories, and examples of practice and pedagogy from elementary through post-secondary education of the design principles in action. Classrooms of WWCB participants provided students with new opportunities and equipped teachers with the space, time and supportive community needed to grow their practice. The work and writing from the past two years of WWCB has been shared at regional and national conferences and inspired educators throughout the country. It is a lasting body of work that will forever shape writing project practice for the future. Like many things during this time, we hold deep gratitude for the learning that came from these experiences and at the same time, we know it is time to move forward.
It can be hard to come to grips with the limits of our influence. While our dream was to “grow back not to what was, but instead towards what we can become” our classrooms are nested in schools, districts, communities, that have all faced struggles — our desperation and attachment to “return to normal” often clouds a sense of possibility for a better future. In a professional development gathering last week, a teacher leader responded to an article we wrote during the pandemic that asked the question: What if we return to better?
“We have been saying that for the past two years. Nothing we are doing now is better. In fact, a lot of it is worse than it was before.”
Her words are chilling, painful and true — not in all places, of course, but in too many for us to be satisfied. So we find ourselves grappling with these hard truths while continuing to show up for each other and our students and find ways to move forward.
This year, we again seek to meet the moment, take what we have learned, and continue to grow — and we hope you will join us on the journey. This summer, we will launch a yearlong institute dedicated to Teacher Leadership in Writing. While we find ourselves again on uncertain ground for our profession, we know that there has never been a more important time to find community with thoughtful colleagues, write for ourselves and audiences that need to hear teacher voices, and ask big and deep questions about how we practice engaging, agency-oriented, and authentic writing instruction in our classrooms.
