A methodology for enhancing student writing in the discipline through complementary and collaborative working between central and school based writing development provision

Abstract

Academic literacies theory argues that academic writing is currently caught up in unequal power relationships which 'problematize the student' (Lea and Street 1998) and thus argues for a change in focus from a 'skills' model to the adoption of a more discursive model which values tutor-student and student-student discussion and considers writing and meaning-making within the context of the discipline. Haggis (2006), similarly argues for an embedded, dialogic approach to processes within the discipline whereby ' the embedded processual complexities of thinking, understanding and acting in specific disciplinary contexts need to be explored as an integral part of academic content teaching within the disciplines themselves.' This article will demonstrate how a range of pedagogies has been adopted at Nottingham Trent University to enable students to develop writing strategies which are mindful of, and embedded within differing disciplinary practices