Thinking and Writing for Publication: A Guide for Teachers [Book Review]

(Wisconsin State Reading Association Journal, Fall 2003, Vol. 44, No. 4)

It has long been known that writing critically and reflectively about our practice facilitates authentic professional development.  In this helpful resource, Wilcox persuades  us that such writing contributes as well to the professional development of our colleagues.  Writing well about our teaching and having others learn from that writing itself creates a win-win situation.

Wilcox convincingly creates a context for writing for publication by describing behaviors and attitudes that help us develop an identity as a writer and also nurture our writing competencies. To support her ideas, she quotes from a range of experts including Donald Murray, Lucy Calkins, and Stephen Covey.  She ends each chapter with practical assignments aimed at strengthening the recursive relationship between critical thinking and effective writing.

She divides the book into four useful chapters: Becoming a Writer, Connecting Thinking and Writing, Organizing and Sharing our Writing, and Writing a Book Review as a First Publication.  The second chapter is especially inspiring. Most teachers write and we all think about our practice.  Here Wilcox offers much cognitive evidence on the benefits of connecting these two activities and describes as well numerous practical ways for very busy teachers to connect the two.  For example, she explains the use and benefits of a thinking journal: a journal that “allows us to revisit our writing, review what we recorded, and see where our reflections have taken us” (p.26). She also encourages us to focus on developing a thinking vocabulary, to be aware of words we use and can begin to use, words that indicate “what we presently think, words indicating a specific thinking process, or words indicating a product of our thinking” (p.33).  At the very least, these techniques help us structure our knowledge gained from our everyday practical experience.

Finally, the information and suggestions in her chapter on writing book reviews could be especially transforming for teachers. We all read professional publications and know  many other educators who could benefit from reading them as well.  Sharing these insights in book reviews helps us to clarify our own professional gains from reading the book at the same time we are offering the possibility of those gains to our colleagues.

Bonita L. Wilcox. 2001. Thinking and Writing for Publication: A Guide for Teachers. International Reading Association (800 Barksdale Road. P.O. Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139, USA). 100 pp. ISBN 0-87207-499-4. Paper US $17.95.