ABSTRACT
Writing ability develops in the drive to shape meaning. The kind of meta-cognitive awareness that arises from private reflection and communal discussion informs the development of the writer in the teacher, and the teacher of writing. The evidence in this chapter is drawn mainly from long-standing writing groups where there are opportunities to reflect on development over time. Teachers who were part of the Buckinghamshire Teachers as Writers (TAW) group captured something of their journeys as writers by regularly responding to a series of prompts called My Writing Now. Guilt comes high on the list so permission becomes an important element of the writing group. Groups situated in universities and attached to Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses are well-placed to catch the truly reluctant writer before they carry their crippled approach to writing into the classroom. Teachers come to feel the benefits of writing and to recognise its place in their lives and their responsibility towards themselves.
