Chapter 7
Social Collaboration and Hope-Building as Insulation from Isolation, Stress, and Procrastination in the Writing Process
In: Writing Hope Found in Uncertain TimesSearch for other papers by Sean Brady in
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Overview
While much of the existing scholarship regarding student writing centers on “self-efficacy” as a key variable, positing hope as an ideal writing mindset points towards even greater student growth because it accounts for the social collaboration necessary at so many steps of the writing process. In order to help student writers overcome the cognitive and emotional stresses that writing can lead to, there are several strategies that educators can use to infuse hope into their writing classrooms. Many strategies focus on the social collaborative nature of writing, a focus that is even more paramount in the wake of a global pandemic that has ushered in a new era of education which is more physically isolated than ever before. For students who exhibit low levels of hope about their writing situation, strategies like model analysis can help students find confidence by “borrowing” rhetorical moves from effective samples. One of the most effective hope building strategies for all students is process mapping, which situates the classroom as a network of fellow writers sharing struggles and approaches. This strategy also can help normalize the messiness that is inherent in most writing endeavors, relieving the pressure to follow a fictional singular “correct” or linear way to write which at worst can lead students to lose hope or disengage from the writing task entirely. Lastly, changing attitudes towards revision as an essential and collaborative part of the writing process can help students not only produce better work but more importantly gain agency and hope.