teaching writing from the inside

Language is our canoe up the wilderness river, our bush plane, our space capsule, our magic.

We must come to believe that our writing is worth reading by others.

Tom Romano

At a recent lunch with two teacher friends, we were debating the systemic problems that affect our school system. One, a former science teacher and mother to 2 children who have been in the advanced program sees a move away from teaching basics (like having kids memorize the parts of the cell and their functions as a foundation to higher learning) and a dumbing down of the curriculum. My other friend, who teaches GT 6th graders and who used to teach elementary, 4/5, advanced program, has noticed that these students are coming to middle school unable to think, reason or problem solve. They are reluctant to do the heavy lifting necessary to engage in these processes. They are reluctant to engage in the learning process and prefer teacher directed instruction. How does this relate to writing. I asked them why our kids write personal narratives. One said to learn and practice writing skills. The other said that even kids who don't know anything can at least write about themselves. I added that kids need to be able to explain things, refering back to Burke's chapter - skills needed for a flat world. None of us focused on the process of writing, the joy of writing for writing's sake, or as Romano says "[l]anguage is for discovery."
I see it as a process vs. product issue. In our classrooms, writing is used to show what kids know - all of our rubrics look at the end product, not the journey to get there. Creativity is not valued, and we don't look at writing as a way of discovery and learning (other than learning to be a better writer!). I love the challenge of writing - but even with all of the briefs, contracts, letters, lesson plans, papers, reflections, etc. that I have written, I do not look at it as a creative process. Its about changing the lens by which we look at all forms of writing, including our own.