Umberto Eco argues that ‘to survive you must tell stories’ and in the telling, the writer enters the ‘great enduring conversation about what it means to be human.’ Through using language to compose their own stories and respond to those of others in the English classroom, our young people find a unique space to learn, to grow, to make meaning and to deepen their understanding of self and others.

As teachers, our hope is that all our students become capable, enthusiastic and confident writers. After all, writing is the critical medium for thinking and making sense of experience. When we write, we write ourselves into meaning, discovering ideas and generating insights. Every act of writing is potentially an act of creation.

British writer Doris Lessing captures the significance of writing and stories in our lives in the following: The storyteller is deep inside every one of us… Let us suppose our world is ravaged by war… Let us suppose floods wash through our cities and the seas rise. The storyteller will be there, for it is our imaginations which shape us, keep us, create us… It is our stories that will recreate us, when we are torn, hurt, even destroyed. It is the storyteller, the dream-maker, that is our phoenix, that represents us at our best, and at our most creative.’

With advances in neuroscience, educators are gaining valuable information about the role of writing in cognitive development and the benefits involved in the processes of writing. Expressive writing such as story writing and journaling has been shown to reduce stress by 60%. Writing for fifteen minutes, three times a week, is said to improve sleep and have positive effects on mental health. Regular expressive writing is linked to improved immune function, mood and general wellbeing. These findings support Lessing’s view of the power of writing and urge us to allow the storyteller ‘deep inside’ each of our young people to find its expression. 

Clare Murphy

English Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach