(Re)introducing the Philadelphia Writing Project Journal
by Tamara Anderson
For 25 years, the Philadelphia Writing Project has served as a space for educators to celebrate and examine the teaching of writing as a critical tool for learning. Over the years, PhilWP teacher consultants have written about issues both personal and professional to make sense of the world around them. Teacher consultants have shared their writing in publications like the PhilWP Voice and the PhilWP Update. In 2011 (and beyond?) PhilWP has a new place to collect our writing: the PhilWP Journal. The Journal, like the publications before it, demonstrates the power of multiple voices through writing. What should be evident is the collective strength in collaboration that wraps around all of us in times of joy, struggle, realization, and transformation.
Imagine a lone spirit struggling to find her own personal solution in dealing with dyslexia and exhibiting the fortitude to read and write as if every living breath depended on it. Consider social networks constituting a space for teachers to communicate and collaborate. Contemplate the practice of teaching emerging writers to find their voices in kindergarten or the power of students and the stories they tell.
As teachers, we may not always find time to sit with peers and share promising practices or delve into the kind of teacher inquiry that can address the questions we confront in isolation. The Journal—we hope—may strengthen our community of writers. Putting pen to paper is an act of vulnerability. Sharing one’s writing is also a sign of strength. We hope you are strengthened in your own practice as you read these pages.