Sarah Warshauer Freedman

This report is the final report of a comparative study of the teaching and learning of writing in the United Kingdom and the United States, consisting of observational studies of 4 pairs of classrooms which exchanged writing between the 2 countries over a 2-year period. Following an overview in chapter 1, chapter 2 describes the study's methods. Chapters 3-6 contain case studies of the 4 pairs of classes engaged in the study, with each of these chapters...

"Exchanging Writing, Exchanging Cultures offers concrete lessons to school reformers, policymakers, and classroom teachers about the value and effectiveness of different approaches to teaching writing. For U.S. educators, the British experience provides cogent reasons for rethinking the adoption of a "high stakes" national examination on the British model - a model Freedman found detrimental to learning. At the same time, the book highlights British...

Contributed by authors who write from various disciplinary perspectives, the essays in this book clarify the learning theories of Mikhail Bakhtin and address the application of his concepts to contemporary issues. In addition, the authors are joined by other scholars in a Bakhtinian dialogue. Together, they address questions that readers may have about Bakhtinian theory and its application to everyday teaching practices.