Writing

Philosophy of Teaching Writing

At Highlands International School writing is a high priority. While today’s universities and workplaces are increasingly demanding that their students and employees enter with strong writing skills, we also believe that the habit of exploring one’s thoughts and communicating through writing is an important element in a person’s character and will serve each student well in many aspects of his or her life. Our primary goal is that each student becomes a writer and internalizes writing into his or her identity while he or she grows more proficient in using writing for diverse purposes.

Desiring that our students fully fulfill their roles as sub-creators within God’s creation we consider the following characteristics of writing to be essential. Writing should have craft and artistry, expressing emotion and ideas convincingly and with skill. It should exhibit creativity, both in expression and content. It should strive for accuracy, representing as nearly as possible the student’s thoughts and knowledge.

To these ends, we provide students with safe and consistent guided writing environments where they can experiment and take risks while learning how to write in various genres and for various audiences. Through mini-lessons, peer review, and individual teacher conferences, we teach our students how to distill their thoughts and put them down into writing. We teach our students to refine their writings through self and peer editing. We provide motivation through modeling a love of the act of writing and the products of writing, as well as providing ample opportunities for students to publish and share their work.

Finally, we believe that writing is not an amoral act. The act of writing can bring glory to God or can distance us from Him. We also recognize that the honest expression of painful feelings or experiences can be a necessary step in personal growth and healing, and with these principles in mind we teach and encourage our students to write that which is ultimately edifying to themselves and to others.