Conceptualisations of ‘good’ writing in the English primary school context

Bibliographic Data

ID21590241
AuthorsSofia Lampropoulou (0000-0001-9072-1394, University of Liverpool), Victorina González-Díaz (University of Liverpool, corresponding author), Elizabeth Parr (0000-0002-9794-503X, Liverpool Hope University), Kristi Nourie (0000-0002-3323-5100, University of East Anglia)
Year2025
Volume39
Issue3
Pages656-679
Publication date2025-05-04
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage and Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-0782 • E-ISSN: 1747-7581
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09500782.2024.2369268
OpenAlexW4400884661
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited23

This study investigates conceptualisations of ‘good’ writing held by local education leads, primary school teachers and their pupils following the most recent iteration of England’s National Curriculum. Despite curricular changes designed to improve writing performance, significant discrepancies in ‘good’ writing constructs and priorities are recorded across stakeholder groups: leads primarily value the interpersonal and stylistic aspects of writing, pupils conceptualise writing quality as a mastery of ‘technical accuracy’ whereas teachers frame writing as an opposition between reception matters and technical accuracy. Our analysis also indicates that the latest curriculum guidelines provide less detailed information on the non-compositional aspects of writing than earlier descriptors. This is likely to influence school practice and negatively impact the development of a shared concept of ‘good’ school writing that may be foundational for substantial improvements in children’s writing outcomes

Linguistics · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Primary education · Sociology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · History · Psychology · Writing and Handwriting Education

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