Writing as a space of training: From the training of students to the training of teachers

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/19827199816

This work aims to discuss writing and its practices regarding the training of student writers and teachers. To this end, we analyzed the data produced by a qualitative research of socio-historical approach developed with students from a public school in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The teacher-researcher (first author) used, throughout the school year of 2011, several strategies to promote writing in Portuguese language classes. We share some moments of this investigative path, focusing on one of the proposals: writing in diaries. From this experience and the data produced, we reflect on the promotion of writing practices in school. We believe that the teacher must take the position of being the interlocutor of their students in order to contribute to the training of writers. Therefore, we consider the students’ writings not only as a space for training writers, but also as a place of (trans)formation of the teacher who ventures to form writers. These reflections were based on the students’ writings in diaries and on the written record in the researcher’s journal, considering the writing space also as an instance of training. We deal with the concepts of Bakhtin (2006a, 2006b), such as language, subject, dialogue and alterity, reflections of Larrosa (2006, 2002, 1996) on narrative and identity, as well as with other authors that thematize the issue of language-writing-training from the perspective that we have adopted.

Keywords: Writing, Interaction, Student training, Teacher training.