Writers in Community Model: 15 Recommendations for Future Research in Using Writing to Promote Science Learning

Graham (A writer(s) within community model of writing. In Bazerman C, Berninger V, Brandt D, Graham S, Langer J, Murphy S, Matsuda P, Rowe D, Schleppegrell M (eds) The lifespan development of writing. National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, pp 271–335, 2018) developed a writer(s) in context model to explain writing and its development. The central component of the model is the writing community in which writing takes place. A writing community includes the following components: purpose, writing tools, members (writers, audience), actions, social and physical context, collective history, and the writing task(s). These features drive, shape, and constrain the act of writing within each writing community. The task of writing is further constrained by what members of the writing community bring to the task of writing, including varying levels of knowledges and beliefs, facility in managing and regulating the act of writing, and mastery of basic writing processes. This chapter examines the implications of this model in terms of promoting quality learning in school science through the use of writing as a means for promoting student science learning. This includes establishing an agenda of research in writing to learn in science based on the person in context model presented here.