According to data from the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 28% of fourth graders, 31% of eighth graders, and 24% of twelfth graders performed at or above a proficient (i.e., competent) level of writing achievement for their respective grade level (Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). This Access Center resource is intended to help teachers implement writing instruction that will lead to better writing outcomes for students with and without writing difficulties. We provide research-based recommendations, activities, and materials to effectively teach writing to the wide range of students educators often find in their classrooms.
There are three apparent reasons why so many children and youth find writing challenging. First, composing text is a complex and difficult undertaking that requires the deployment and coordination of multiple affective, cognitive, linguistic, and physical operations to accomplish goals associated with genre-specific conventions, audience needs, and an author's communicative purposes.
Second, the profile of the typical classroom in the United States has undergone dramatic changes in the recent past. Many more students today come from impoverished homes, speak English as a second language, and have identified or suspected disabilities (Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003).
This increasing diversity of the school-aged population has occurred within the context of the standards-based education movement and its accompanying high-stakes accountability testing. As a consequence, more demands for higher levels of writing performance and for demonstration of content mastery through writing are being made of students and their teachers, while teachers are simultaneously facing a higher proportion of students who struggle not only with composing, but also with basic writing skills.
Unfortunately, many teachers feel ill-equipped to handle these competing pressures, in part because they lack the prerequisite pedagogical knowledge, instructional capabilities, and valued resources for teaching writing, and in part because writing curricula, which exert a strong influence on teachers' writing instruction, tend to be underdeveloped and misaligned with other curricula (Troia & Maddox, 2004).
Third, the quality of instruction students receive is a major determinant of their writing achievement (Graham & Harris, 2002). In some classrooms, writing instruction focuses almost exclusively on text transcription skills, such as handwriting and spelling, with few opportunities to compose meaningful, authentic text (e.g., Palinscar & Klenk, 1992). In other classrooms, frequent and varied opportunities exist to use the writing process to complete personally relevant and engaging writing tasks, but little time is devoted to teaching important writing skills and strategies, as it is assumed these can be mastered through incidental teaching and learning (e.g., Westby & Costlow, 1991).
Still in other classrooms, virtually no time is devoted to writing instruction or writing activities (e.g., Christenson, Thurlow, Ysseldyke, & McVicar, 1989). In perhaps a minority of classrooms, students are taught by exemplary educators who blend process-embedded skill and strategy instruction with writing workshop elements such as mini-lessons, sustained writing, conferencing, and sharing (e.g., Bridge, Compton-Hall, & Cantrell, 1997; Troia, Lin, Cohen, & Monroe, in preparation; Wray, Medwell, Fox, & Poulson, 2000).
Yet, for students with disabilities who tend to develop or exhibit chronic and pernicious writing difficulties, even this type of instruction may be inadequate. These students need considerably more intensive, individualized, and explicit teaching of transcription skills and composing strategies that incorporates effective adaptations to task demands, response formats, student supports, and teacher practices (Troia & Graham, 2003; Troia, Lin, Monroe, & Cohen, in preparation). The box below presents several areas of difficulty for students with writing problems.
Qualities of strong writing instruction
- Students should have meaningful writing experiences and be assigned authentic writing tasks that promote personal and collective expression, reflection, inquiry, discovery, and social change.
- Routines should permit students to become comfortable with the writing process and move through the process over a sustained period of time at their own rate.
- Lessons should be designed to help students master craft elements (e.g., text structure, character development), writing skills (e.g., spelling, punctuation), and process strategies (e.g., planning and revising tactics).
- A common language for shared expectations and feedback regarding writing quality might include the use of traits (e.g., organization, ideas, sentence fluency, word choice, voice, and conventions).
The illustration below provides a graphic representation of the core components of effective writing instruction.
Putting the pieces together:
the core components of effective writing instruction
All of these basic components must be thoughtfully coordinated to form a comprehensive writing program for students. Of course, these are only the basic features of strong writing instruction. Additional features, such as procedural supports for carrying out the writing process, a sense of writing community, integration of writing with other academic areas, assistance in implementing a writing program, and sustained professional development to strengthen teachers' knowledge and skills are presented in the box below.
These characteristics of exemplary writing instruction are equally relevant for elementary and secondary teachers — regardless of content area focus — and their young writers. If students are expected to become competent writers, then writing instruction must be approached in similar ways by all teachers who expect writing performance in their classrooms and must be sustained across the grades to support students as they gradually become accomplished writers.
- Mini-lesson (15 minutes)
Teacher-directed lesson on writing skills, composition strategies, and crafting elements (e.g., writing quality traits, character development, dialogue, leads for exposition, literary devices), which are demonstrated and practiced through direct modeling of teacher's writing or others' work (e.g., shared writing, literature, student papers); initially, mini-lessons will need to focus on establishing routines and expectations;
- Check-in (5 minutes)
Students indicate where they are in the writing process (i.e., planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing). The teacher asks students to identify how they plan to use what was taught during the mini-lesson in their writing activities for that day;
- Independent Writing and Conferring (30 minutes)
Students are expected to be writing or revising/editing, consulting with a peer, and/or conferencing with the teacher during this time;
- Sharing (10 minutes)
Students identify how they used what was taught during the mini-lesson in their own writing and what challenges arose. The teacher may discuss impressions from conferring with students; students share their writing (it does not have to be a complete paper and may, in fact, only be initial ideas for writing) with the group or a partner, while others provide praise and constructive feedback. Students discuss next steps in the writing assignment; and
- Publishing Celebration (occasionally)
Students need a variety of outlets for their writing to make it purposeful and enjoyable, such as a class anthology of stories or poems, a grade-level newspaper or school magazine, a public reading in or out of school, a Web site for student writing, a pen pal, the library, and dramatizations.
Additional instructional considerations
Writing workshop is an instructional model in which the process of writing is emphasized more than the written product and which highly values students' interests and autonomy. Because so many teachers use some variation of writing workshop as the fundamental structure for their writing program, the attributes of an exemplary workshop are described in Specific Characteristics of a Strong Writers' Workshop. Some of the most important attributes include explicit modeling, regular conferencing with students and families, high expectations, encouragement, flexibility, cooperative learning arrangements, and ample opportunities for self-regulation.
On occasion, teachers may wish to assign topics or provide prompts for journaling or other writing activities. A list of potential prompts appropriate for late elementary and middle school grades is given in Writing Prompts. Using titles is a unique way of having students plan and write creative narratives that conform to a particular sub-genre or that have a distinctive tone. Other ways of prompting creative narratives include pictures, story starters, and story endings (these are particularly beneficial because they require a high degree of planning).
Numerous persuasive topic prompts are listed because persuasive writing often is overlooked until secondary school, and because such topics can engage students in critical thinking about relevant issues. Of course, teachers will need to supplement this list with other prompts to trigger other forms of writing (e.g., exposition, poetry); many such prompts can and should be derived from the curriculum as well as students' personal experiences and interests (for suggestions, see Fletcher, 2002; Heard, 1989; Portalupi & Fletcher, 2001; Young, 2002).
Breaking down different genres in writing
A carefully orchestrated routine should also guide coverage of the writing curriculum. One type of routine includes genre study. In genre study, each instructional cycle focuses on a single genre (e.g., poetry) and one or two particular forms of that genre (e.g., cinquain and haiku). To develop a strong sense of the genre, a genre study cycle should typically last about one marking period.
One way of thinking about the organization of genre study is to relate it to the process of growing a prize-winning rose for entry into a garden show. The first step is to plant the seed for writing by immersing students in touchstone texts (i.e., exemplary models) of the genre targeted for instruction and discussing the key qualities of those examples to illustrate the structure and function of the genre.
The next step is to grow the seed idea through careful planning and small increments of drafting (much like giving a seed just the right amount of sunlight, water, and fertilizer to help it grow). Then, as any accomplished gardener will tell you, once a rose plant begins to grow, it is often necessary to prune back dead branches and leaves, add structural supports, and perhaps even graft new plants.
Likewise, once a draft has been produced, it requires multiple trimmings of unworkable portions or irrelevant information; expansions through the addition of details, examples, and even new portions of text; and attention to writing conventions for ultimate publication. Displaying one's writing in some public forum to gain valuable feedback and accolades, much like a prized rose, is the culmination of all the hard work invested in the writing process and the written product.
Building and assessing advanced writing components
Students need to develop an understanding of the valued aspects or traits of good writing and the capacity to incorporate these traits into their writing. Developing a routine for communicating about specific writing qualities is essential to the success of a writing program. A number of resources are available to help teachers do this (e.g., Culham, 2003; Spandel, 2001).
The most commonly taught writing traits are ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. These closely resemble the dimensions on which many state-mandated accountability measures base their writing achievement assessment (i.e., content, organization, style, and conventions). An example of a scoring rubric for teachers for all of these traits is the Analytic Trait Scoring Rubric (note that voice is not included on the rubric because it is difficult to reliably distinguish it from other traits and score accordingly.
However, teaching it does have instructional value). This kind of rubric is appropriate for all types of writing. Examples of genre-specific rubrics, which focus on unique aspects of a genre such as its structure, include the Story Grammar Elements Rating Scale and Guidelines for Segmenting Persuasive Papers Into Functional Elements.
To help students develop a sense of what constitutes a strong example of a particular trait, teachers can have students listen to or read excerpts from an exemplar touchstone text (which could be a student writing sample) to (a) identify the primary trait evident in the excerpts and (b) identify concrete evidence for characterizing a piece of writing as strong on that particular trait.
Teachers also might ask students to develop their own definition for the trait and/or the descriptors for different scores on a trait rubric by examining superb, average, and weak examples. It is better to limit the number of traits that receive instructional focus at any given time to one or two; the decision regarding which traits are targeted should be guided by the genre and form of writing being taught as well as students' needs.
Writing portfolios are a valuable tool for providing students with feedback regarding how well they incorporate various traits in their writing. They also give students opportunities to reflect on the writing process and their writing accomplishments, and help them make informed choices about what pieces of writing exemplify their best work (see Writing Portfolio: Student Reflection). Portfolios also can provide a mechanism for teachers to reflect on their writing instruction and to establish individualized goals for students (see Writing Portfolio: Teacher Reflection).
Accommodating all students
Even when a top-notch writing program is firmly established in the classroom, some students will require additional assistance in mastering the skills and strategies of effective writing. Such assistance can be provided through adaptations, which include accommodations in the learning environment, instructional materials, and teaching strategies, as well as more significant modifications to task demands and actual writing tasks. A list of such adaptations is provided in Adaptations for Struggling Writers.
Spelling and handwriting strategies
Of course, elementary school teachers must explicitly teach spelling and handwriting to their students (this is not to say that secondary educators do not address these skills, but they do so to a much lesser extent). Research-based suggestions for teaching spelling and handwriting to students with and without writing difficulties are summarized in Tips for Teaching Spelling and Tips for Teaching Handwriting, respectively.
Students can spend time practicing and self-evaluating their performance, with the teacher frequently checking their work (error correction is critical). Depending on how well the students do, the teacher may teach additional lessons. The students might also work with each other to study/practice and evaluate each other's work. Finally, at the end of the week, the teacher should assess how well the students have learned the elements.
To facilitate the establishment of weekly routines in spelling (which is usually a focus of instruction across elementary grades), review the following activities and student handouts.
The above are basic lesson formats; the content for an actual lesson is derived from the spelling patterns (either orthographic or morphemic) targeted for instruction. These teacher-directed activities are used to provide more explicit spelling instruction, as student self-study or partner activities are insufficient for many students, especially those who struggle with spelling, to learn spelling patterns and rules.
Teaching composing strategies
Students who struggle with writing, including those with disabilities, typically require explicit and systematic instruction in specific composing strategies. Even more emphasis should be placed on strategies that support the planning and revising aspects of the writing process, which trouble these students most. Fortunately, there have been numerous studies examining the effectiveness of various planning and revising strategies for students with and without high-incidence disabilities in multiple educational contexts (i.e., whole classrooms, small group instruction, individualized tutoring). Two excellent resources that describe this research and give advice on how to teach the many available strategies are Writing Better: Effective Strategies for Teaching Students With Learning Difficulties (Graham & Harris, 2005) and Making the Writing Process Work: Strategies for Composition and Self-Regulation (Harris & Graham, 1996). For this resource, only a few research-based strategies are presented in depth to give teachers an idea of how to implement composing strategies in their particular setting.
Following are two planning strategies (one for narrative writing and one for persuasive writing) and five revising/editing strategies. For all of these, the teacher should first model how to use the strategy, then give students an opportunity to cooperatively apply the strategy while producing group papers, and finally let students practice using the strategy while writing individual papers. Throughout these stages of instruction, the teacher should provide extensive feedback and encouragement, discuss how to apply the strategy in diverse contexts, solicit students' suggestions for improvement, and directly link strategy use to writing performance. All of the strategies presented here use acronyms that encapsulate the multiple steps of the strategies. Furthermore, each strategy has an accompanying watermark illustration that serves to cue the acronym. These features help reduce memory and retrieval demands for students, particularly those with learning problems.
This is a narrative-planning strategy (personal or fictional) that incorporates the basic structure of narrative (i.e., SPACE) and the steps for planning and writing a good story (i.e., LAUNCH). A prompt sheet identifies the strategy steps and can be copied for each student or reproduced for a poster display. A planning sheet allows students to record their story ideas, writing goals, and self-talk statements.
First, the student should establish and record personalized writing goals: a quality goal and a related quantity goal. For example, a student struggling with word choice (one of the six traits described previously) might identify a goal to increase quality rating from a 3 to a 5 on a 6-point scale (see Analytic Trait Scoring Rubric). A related quantity goal to help the student reach this level of quality in word choice might be to include a minimum of 10 descriptive words in the story.
Next, the student should generate ideas for a story and record single words or short phrases that capture these ideas (it is important to discourage students from writing complete sentences on a planning sheet, as this will restrain flexibility in planning and yield a rough draft rather than a true plan). Note that space is provided for multiple ideas for each basic part of a story — students should be encouraged to explore several possibilities for setting and plot elements to foster creativity and to permit evaluation of each idea's merit.
Finally, the student should record self-talk statements, which are personalized comments, exhortations, or questions to be spoken aloud (initially) or subvocalized (once memorized) while planning and writing to help the student cope with negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to the writing process or the task. For example, a student who believes writing is hard might record, "This is a challenge, but I like challenges and I have my strategy to help me do well."
The last sheet is a score card, which is used by a peer to evaluate the student's writing performance. The evaluation criteria are closely linked to the valued qualities embedded in the strategy itself (i.e., million-dollar words, sharp sentences, and lots of detail), the basic structure of a narrative, and writing mechanics. Of course, these criteria could be modified to align more with particular writing traits, and the rating scale could be adjusted to match the scale used by the teacher. At the bottom of the score card, the writer tallies the points, determines any improvement (this implies progress monitoring, a critical aspect of strategy instruction that helps students see how their efforts impact their writing), and sets goals for the next story.
This strategy for planning persuasive papers incorporates the structure of persuasion (i.e., DARE) and the steps for planning and writing a good opinion paper (i.e., DEFEND). The materials for this strategy are very similar to those provided for SPACE LAUNCH; there is a prompt sheet, a planning sheet, and a score card. Note that the student is required to identify and record ideas that support the position and ideas that counter that position. In the process of doing this, the student may decide to alter the position after evaluating the importance and relevance of each idea. The student can place an asterisk next to those ideas to elaborate upon or to provide concrete supporting evidence for, which encourages further planning.
These are revising/editing strategies intended to be used as checklists by individual students during an initial round of revision and editing. COPS (Mulcahy, Marfo, Peat, & Andrews, 1986) is a limited checklist and therefore is appropriate for primary grade students, but it can be used for any genre. COPS (Singer & Bashir, 1999), on the other hand, is a comprehensive checklist and thus is more suitable for older or better writers, but it is used for exposition and persuasion rather than narration. However, the items on the checklist can be modified to make it appropriate for narratives.
This strategy for individual revising (De La Paz, Swanson, & Graham, 1998) involves a greater degree of self-regulation on the part of the writer than checklists and is considerably more powerful; consequently, it is very helpful for students with writing difficulties. The prompt sheet lists the three steps for strategy deployment — compare (identifying discrepancies between written text and intended meaning), diagnose (selecting a specific reason for the mismatch), and operate (fixing the problem and evaluating the effectiveness of the change).
These strategy steps occur first while the student attends to each sentence in the paper, and then, during a second "cycle," while the student attends to each paragraph in the paper. A third cycle, focusing on the whole text, could be added. A minimum of two cycles is necessary to help the student attend to local as well as more global problems in the text. The diagnostic options for making meaningful revisions vary depending on the level of text to which the student is attending. The teacher will need to develop sets of diagnostic cards, color coded for each cycle, from which the student selects.
This revising/editing strategy (Ellis & Friend, 1991) employs a checklist, but it does have two unique aspects. First, the student is expected to set writing goals before even beginning to write, and when finished revising and editing a paper, to determine if the student's goals were met. Second, the student is expected to work with a peer to double-check editing. As for the other checklists, the teacher can add additional items once the student attains mastery of those listed.
This revising strategy (Neubert & McNelis, 1986) is appropriate for a second round of revision and editing (a third round would involve conferring with the teacher) during which students work with one another. The prompt sheet indicates that a peer editor is to first read the author's paper and mark those parts of the paper that are imaginative, unusual, interesting, and confusing.
Then, the peer editor praises the author for the positive aspects and questions the author about the confusing parts. The peer makes suggestions for how the paper can be improved and gives back the original, marked copy to the author.
Finally, the author addresses the confusing parts marked on the paper and, if desired, makes changes suggested by the peer editor. Whenever a student elects to not make a requested or suggested modification, the student should be expected to adequately justify that decision (this encourages ownership and responsibility).
Integrating writing instruction with content area learning
Teachers often feel that devoting ample time to writing instruction is problematic given the voluminous content area information that must be covered in the typical curriculum (Troia & Maddox, 2004). Simultaneously, they sometimes struggle to identify relevant and stimulating writing topics and assignments that will help students develop their expertise as writers. One way to resolve these dilemmas for older students or students with higher level writing skills is to integrate writing instruction with content area learning.
One important aspect of content area learning is developing communicative competence for interacting with others who have shared knowledge about a discipline or area of study. Individuals within a discipline — such as literary critics, historians, economists, biologists, physicists, and mathematicians — possess a unique way of talking and writing about the theories, principles, concepts, facts, methods of inquiry, and so forth connected with that discipline. Thus, a common goal of content area instruction and writing instruction is to help students acquire proficiency in disciplinary writing.
This does not mean, however, that less content-driven writing exercises are undesirable or unnecessary; the inclusion of disciplinary writing is simply one part of a strong writing program (see Ten Additional Attributes of a Top-Notch Classroom Writing Program). If teachers have students write regularly in content area classes and use content area materials as stimuli for writing workshop, it is more likely that students will develop the capacity to communicate effectively in varied disciplinary discourse communities and will write for more educationally and personally germane purposes.
A number of methods for integrating content area reading with writing have been developed by researchers. Following is a brief description of four methods. The story impressions method (McGinley & Denner, 1987), similar to exchange-compare writing (Wood, 1986), the steps for which are presented in Story Impressions/Exchange-Compare Writing,, utilizes a cooperative learning framework. Students are assigned to a group and given roles (researcher, scribe, content editor, proofreader, and reporter) for writing a brief summary that predicts the content of a lesson or unit text based on key vocabulary provided by the teacher. Once the group has read the text, they rewrite their summary to reflect the actual content of the text and their improved understanding of the material, and discuss this revised version with the rest of the class.
- Students are assigned to home groups and each person in a group is given a different source text (e.g., a magazine article about exercise and cardiovascular health, a newspaper clipping about new medical procedures and drugs that can help reduce the risk of heart attacks, a consumer brochure outlining healthy eating tips for promoting cardiac health, and a textbook chapter about the human circulatory system) to read.
- Then, each student completes a double-entry journal while reading the assigned source text. This is a journal in which the student records some important piece of information from the source text on the left side of the journal page (with an accompanying page number) and a response, question, or evaluative comment on the right side. After completing their double-entry journal, students disperse to an expert group, a group where everyone else has read the same source text. Members of the expert group share their journal entries and summarize the material using a graphic organizer.
- Finally, students return to their home groups to teach the other members about the content information they learned from their text and discuss how this information relates to that covered by the other texts. The double-entry journal could be expanded to a triple-entry journal by having students within the expert groups respond to each others' responses, questions, or evaluations in a third column.
- In math, a class might be about to embark on a unit of study related to geometry. The teacher asks students to brainstorm all that they know about geometry and list these under the Know column. This student-generated information should be organized into categories either by the teacher or by the students with teacher guidance (e.g., shapes, angles, spatial orientation, and measurement) that will facilitate text comprehension.
- Then, the teacher lists under the Want to Learn column those things students would like to discover about geometry (which helps motivate them to read the text).
- After reading, the teacher records under the Learned column what the students learned through the text, with particular attention paid to information that confirmed their prior knowledge, information that was inconsistent with what was anticipated, or new information. If appropriate, new categories are added. Next, students write their summary paragraph based on the information listed in the Learned column.
- Finally, students identify how they would locate missing information in the How to Find out More column (e.g., use a Web browser to search for documents related to geometry), which can help motivate additional learning.
One last method for integrating content area reading with writing is the use of Writing Frames (Nichols, 1980). Writing frames help struggling writers use appropriate text organization for summarizing content area information that adheres to a basic structure (e.g., compare-contrast). The frames prompt coherent organization by providing partially completed sentences or transition words that, over time, can be faded as students become familiar with each frame. The examples provided can easily be adjusted to fit the contents of a particular source text.
- Having the text on tape, CD, or in electronic file format for computer readout;
- Having the struggling reader/writer work with a partner who is a better reader; or
- Providing the student with a modified version of the text that is written with the same essential content but at a lower grade level.
- Carefully consider with whom students are most likely to work well in a group and place them in groups accordingly;
- Assign roles that are well suited for students' particular strengths (e.g., assign a student who is an accomplished speaker but a struggling writer the role or reporter); and 3. Seek professional development opportunities that focus on cooperative and peer-mediated learning.
A significant number of students perform well below the proficient level of writing achievement for their grade level (Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The reasons for this are varied and complex. The number of exemplary writing programs are limited, and even when available they are often not adequate to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
These students require intensive, individualized, and explicit teaching of various strategies if they are to improve their writing abilities. This document provides an information base for the core components of effective writing instruction, and examples of specific strategies and supports that can be used to develop a comprehensive writing program to meet the needs of all students.
About the author
Gene Fowler, celebrated author, editor, and journalist, epitomized the inherent difficulty of composing with his comment, "Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead."


Middle School Curriculum
The core subjects of our Middle School program are Language Arts, Social Studies, Math, Science, and Spanish. Enrichment classes include Visual Arts, Music, Fitness, Service Learning, and Gardening. Students also have the opportunity to choose from a variety of electives classes offered throughout the year. The Middle School curriculum is driven by essential questions that are designed to fulfill Woodlawn’s mission:
- Sixth Grade: What does it mean to be part of a society?
- Seventh Grade: What does it mean to be human?
- Eighth Grade: How did we get here?
Sixth Grade Math
Sixth graders begin the year by becoming familiar with Algebraic reasoning as they study the operations and properties of integers and the real number system. In the winter trimester, students focus on proportional relationships and percents. They study data, graphs, and functions in more depth and create various types of graphs by hand and with spreadsheet software. During the spring trimester, students solve equations and inequalities and work with the properties of 2-D and 3-D geometric figures.
Seventh Grade Math: Pre-Algebra
Seventh graders begin the year studying the principles of Algebra. They draw models to facilitate the transition of the concrete mathematical operations that they have learned in previous years into the abstract concepts of Algebra problem solving. Students solve multi-step equations to enable them to problem solve with percents and proportions. They investigate squares, square roots, and the properties of exponents. They study data in more depth and create various types of graphs by hand and with spreadsheet programs to represent data. In the spring, students graph lines on the coordinate plane and study non-linear functions. They investigate geometric figures in the coordinate plane and work on scaling geometric figures. Problem-solving real world applications, data analysis, proficiency with spreadsheets, and collaboration using Google Documents are all components of seventh grade Pre-Algebra
Eighth Grade Math: Algebra I
In Algebra I, students examine how the properties of real numbers, symbols, variables, expressions, equations, and graphs have enabled us to advance in the use of mathematical applications to get where we are today. They complete application problems where they consider change over time - the interdisciplinary theme for the 8th grade year. Students analyze graphs and learn to think critically as they look at change over time in relation to the algebraic concept of slope - as well as to the historical changes that have occurred over time. Students learn how algebraic knowledge is useful in the everyday lives of people as they make decisions. They apply this knowledge as they analyze data about how the cost of education relates to its value and they determine how to invest for college. They also examine life expectancy, both in the past and in the future. In the spring, students investigate the algebraic analysis of quadratic equations, polynomials, and radicals and learn how this analysis helps people solve problems and plan for the future. They analyze financial information and compare different investment strategies. In their final project, they model the population growth of various cities in the US and use their models to predict future population.
Sixth Grade Social Studies
Sixth grade students experience the “Greatest Hits of European History” to gain a sense of what life was like in societies of Europe’s past and how history has influenced European societies and world societies today. Students begin with Greek city-states, then examine the enormous reach of the Roman Empire and learn about the feudal system of the Middle Ages. Students focus on the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and the Russian Revolution and see how societies dealt with these colossal societal changes. Students also learn about modern Europe, its geography, countries and culture. Sixth graders look at the two World Wars and their effect on Europe’s world view and future. Throughout the year, 6th Graders seek to better understand how different societies and individuals have come together to write the history of Europe.
Seventh Grade Social Studies
Seventh grade students study Asia, Africa, and the Middle East; focusing on geography, history, cultural trends and groups, key individuals, and current events. While studying these topics, we investigate how human nature and human beings shape history. Conversely, we look at how geography and cultural diffusion have shaped human civilizations. Students investigate how human beings fit within their cultures and the influence their roles have in the lives of other people. We examine how a lack of respect for, or a misunderstanding of, other cultures can lead to oppression or conflict. This understanding of stereotypes helps break through misconceptions. Finally, students evaluate how human nature, for better or worse, has impacted these nations and cultures. By looking at the past, we can draw a direct line between the events that have occurred, the motivations that led to them, and their impact on today's world. Seventh graders participate in the National History Day (NHD) academic contest where they learn about primary resources and how to conduct in-depth research in preparation for submission of a historical paper.
Eighth Grade American History
Eighth graders make connections to events from the past and present and study concepts such as: freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility in an attempt to answer our interdisciplinary question - How did we get here? Students also make note of common themes that emerge in history such as reform, determination, and hope. These concepts and themes are present in the primary and secondary historical resources students use, as well as in the fiction and nonfiction selections students read in class. Our study of the 19th and 20th centuries focuses on gaining a sense of place and historical context as students read and discuss main themes from novels, poetry, plays and even musical lyrics of the time. Participation in the National History Day (NHD) academic contest continues in the eighth grade year, and after in-depth research, students choose to create a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance, or website. Students culminate their American History studies by visiting Washington, DC in the spring.
Sixth Grade Science
In 6th grade science, students examine important elements of the natural world and consider their interconnectedness. Students begin by growing their own gardens and experience how plants are important for animal survival. Students then study Woodlawn’s own certified National Wildlife Foundation garden to learn about the relationship between plants and insects. To expand their knowledge, students visit a local park to survey the protected Monarch habitat and consider how humans might protect animal habitat. Using what they have learned, they write and design a performance piece to inform others about the benefits of insects. Throughout the year, students focus on the form and function of the eight major phyla of the animal kingdom and seven major classes of chordates, cataloging the many ways animals have found to survive on earth. In an integrated unit on bird migration, students learn about migratory behaviors of animals. Throughout the spring, students gain an appreciation of biodiversity and the complexity of ecosystems to gain a greater understanding of how they can live in harmony with the natural world.
Seventh Grade Science
Students begin the year with studying the chemistry of living and nonliving things to make sense of our natural world as humans. While studying chemistry, seventh graders look at the molecular structure of materials to determine how they will interact. Through the observation of chemical reactions, students learn how to determine what reactions have occurred. The chemistry unit transitions into a study of human biology with a focus on cellular dynamics, functions of the body systems and organ system pathophysiology. The year continues with the study of the life processes and how structures evolve. To culminate the seventh grade year, students study air pollution, which brings our curriculum full circle as we revisit chemistry and design green buildings to reduce air pollution.
Eighth Grade Science
Eighth graders uncover the answer to our essential question by investigating natural laws of physics that explain how our universe, solar system, and unique environment on Earth came about. Students examine the conversion and flow of energy through ecosystems. Throughout their science coursework, students continually explore the tools and technology that allow scientists to develop their understanding of the universe. The year culminates with an interdisciplinary project in which students incorporate principles of ecology and water management into a design in order to understand factors that affect a watershed, raise community awareness regarding negative impacts to a watershed, and develop a solution to address one of those threats or negative impacts, which can then be implemented in the local community.
Sixth Grade Spanish
Starting in middle school, students learn Spanish through Comprehensible Input, a teaching approach that prioritizes the acquisition of the language through as much exposure as possible. Sixth graders interact with the language through authentic resources like Spanish language novels, film, and music, as well as class-created stories and artwork. Throughout the year, students explore the cultural aspects of Hispanic society through food, family, city life, and celebrations (i.e., Chilean Independence Day and a Mexican Posada). Students learn to appreciate a culture outside of their own through a study of Hispanic Heritage Month and a project that focuses on a specific Latin American country. Students learn how to ask questions and respond appropriately as well as tell simple stories. By the end of sixth grade Spanish students are able to hold simple conversations in Spanish and write paragraphs describing their likes, dislikes, and daily activities.
Seventh Grade Spanish
Seventh graders continue to learn Spanish through Comprehensible Input. Students bolster their vocabulary in Spanish by reading two Spanish-language novels, Tumba and Robo en la noche. Through in-class discussions, students gain insight into many other cultural perspectives as they learn to converse about daily pastimes, the food they eat, housing, and clothing. Daily shared writing leads to solo writing and students should end the year with the ability to write about a page on their personal interests.
Eighth Grade Spanish
In this last year of middle school Spanish, students prepare for High School Spanish courses by cementing basic communication structures and gaining confidence in speaking in Spanish. Eighth graders begin the year by studying the conquistadores’ contributions to the New World and writing a first person narrative to be shared in our Living Museum, as well as read a novel in Spanish about the period. They then focus on the musical contributions of Latino artists during Hispanic Heritage Month. Students also look at how Hispanic populations have changed over time in this country. They continue this study by discovering the ancient cities of Mesoamerica to present day Mexico, DF, and read a second novel in Spanish. Throughout the year, students look at how past and present people and places have shaped our own society and language usage today.
Sixth Grade Language Arts
Guided by the essential question, What does it mean to be part of a society?, 6th grade students uncover the roots of Western literature beginning with Greek mythology. They analyze how stories reflect societies, as well as how stories have been used as criticism of flawed societies. Students read historical fiction from the medieval and Renaissance periods, the Industrial Revolution, and both World Wars. Students investigate how stories can effect change and how individuals respond to oppressive societies. They also focus on the elements of fiction, including plot, characterization, theme, point-of-view, and setting. Students work toward creating thorough, well-organized responses to literature. Developing strong paragraphs, incorporating transitions into their writing, and crafting a thesis statement are critical areas of focus in writing during the sixth grade year.
Seventh Grade Language Arts
What does it mean to be human? is the essential question for 7th grade and drives the literature themes. Students read works set in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. They create a variety of projects as they learn to work creatively, independently, and collaboratively. Students write short answers, long answers, letters, lists, personal essays, persuasive speeches, creative log entries, poems, profiles, short scripts, and more. They learn to do self-assessments, lead discussions in class, and share what they have learned through speeches and discussions. Students incorporate research and quotations into both literary responses and research papers. For their National History Day essays (written in Language Arts and Social Studies), students compose outlines, learn citation, and annotate bibliographies. The year culminates with a choice-based project, Mission X, and an integrated project, Small Home Big Life, where they use their writing and presentation skills to effectively share a home they have designed to a real client.
Eighth Grade Language Arts
How did we get here? This is the essential question for 8th grade and drives the themes for Language Arts. Students read select literature (letters, novels, stories) from early explorers, early Americans, and modern American authors. Students write imaginative letters from the perspectives of early explorers and indigenous peoples. They read and appreciate the storytelling culture of settlers through Wynema and other writings of the colonial era. Students read short stories from early America, study story structure, and then write their own stories. Students continue to study grammar, punctuation and formatting and become strong writers through rewriting multiple drafts of essays, literary analyses, profiles, short stories, journalism, and poetry. During the spring trimester, they have the opportunity to develop their own language arts project, Mission X. Students finish the year applying their writing and presentation skills to inform and persuade an audience to protect our watershed.
The visual arts program at Woodlawn engages students in making, interpreting, and learning about art in a meaningful way. Students learn skills, concepts, and ways of interacting with art that fosters an understanding of their own lives and the lives of others. The various areas of art and design students may choose to engage in are typically related to what they are learning about in other subjects, or influenced by local artists and community exhibitions. While learning about art and developing skills and techniques, the students are guided by the Studio Habits of Mind: Develop Craft, Engage and Persist, Stretch and Explore, Observe, Express, Envision, Reflect, and Understand Arts Community. Working through design problems they have chosen to pursue, students practice the studio habits and document their creative process. Through self-reflection and constructive feedback, students determine when their work is ready to be displayed and decide how and where to present their original art pieces in multiple exhibitions throughout the year. Trips to local museums and galleries provide students the opportunity to analyze and interpret a variety of artworks. We cultivate an environmentally sustainable art curriculum that utilizes reclaimed and recycled materials whenever possible, and makes meaningful connections with artists and artwork that address environmental issues.
Musical & Theater
The middle school music and theater curriculum focuses on building students' music knowledge by fully understanding music history, theory, and covering several genres from classical to rap, from bluegrass to bebop. Music is integrated into the subject areas in each grade level as natural connections are made. In eighth grade, music and service learning are integrated as students create music for emotion and perform monthly for the residents of the Brian Center. Middle school students have the opportunity to work with upper school students and participate in the annual school musical, which is performed during winter trimester. Middle school students explore musical theater and theater performance as well as acting techniques through weekly classroom drama activities and skills practice. Students practice acting, dance and voice and this collaborative method emphasizes training of the whole actor with a deeper integration of the skills needed to develop students’ craft.
Middle School Fitness
Middle School Fitness teaches the value of healthy living through physical activity, appraisal of personal health, fitness and injury prevention, game skills, and the promotion of sportsmanship and self-confidence. Students explore the notion that a truly healthy person is one who understands and nurtures their mental, physical, and emotional being. Students learn techniques needed to master cooperative and competitive games such as volleyball, soccer, basketball, football, and kickball. They learn about skill-related components of fitness such as agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed. Leadership qualities are enhanced through cooperative games and trust-building activities. Students continue to participate cooperatively, follow directions, and encourage other players on the field.
Woodlawn School's organic vegetable and flower garden serves as an outdoor classroom for gardening and science classes where students can gain exposure to the natural world and all its processes – biological, chemical and physical. Students in sixth grade spend time in the gardens each fall and spring growing vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Students plant, weed, harvest, add compost, and have fun learning science concepts in the gardens. At the end of the growing season, students take home organic produce they have grown themselves. Woodlawn uses organic gardening methods and does not use chemical fertilizers or weed killers. Students pull weeds and enrich the soil with nutrients by adding compost. Organic gardening practices provide a wholesome environment for Woodlawn's students and teach students how to be good stewards of the earth.
Understanding how to best tackle life skills can be tricky as adolescents navigate change during the middle school years. Through weekly life skills classes, middle school students discuss relevant topics. Through small and large group discussions and activities, students discover that the middle school years are a time of growth and change and can be a rewarding experience as they begin to discover who they are, what they believe in, and how important they are in this world. Peer interactions are a critical yet confusing part of adolescent development. Open dialogue in a safe environment and self-reflective writing allow students to share challenges and opportunities that they are currently facing. This journey of self-discovery at the beginning of their middle school experience naturally branches into an exploration of the multiple ways a student can be a leader. Units are presented through thematic literature, journaling, role-playing, skits, discussion, and reflection.
Sixth Grade Service: Animal Advocacy The sixth grade service learning program focuses on animal advocacy. Students participate in a variety of activities that allow them to learn about domesticated and wild animals and how to advocate for animal protection and proper animal care. Students work throughout the year to understand the importance of responsible animal ownership, working to educate their community about various topics related to ethical animal treatment. They also advocate for wild animals through an integrated presentation about the wonders and benefits of insects and a performance piece about migratory birds. They partner with Piedmont Animal Rescue to learn common reasons for animal surrender and develop materials for potential pet owners that address these concerns. Students also work to support this organization by raising money selling homemade dog biscuits at Christmas in Davidson, holding donation drives, making beds and toys for animals, and creating animal care packets for current and future pet owners. At the end of the year, students choose one habit they will commit to practicing, or an organization they will commit to supporting as an advocate for animals. Seventh Grade Service: Sustainability
The aim of seventh grade service is to introduce students to sustainability as a way to become positive contributors to our society. Through class discussions, readings, and field experiences, students explore a variety of environmental issues facing our local, regional, and global community. Using what they learn from these experiences, they develop educational opportunities for others so they can incorporate sustainable practices into their own lifestyles. Integrating service learning with science, language arts, and visual arts, they design and create public service announcements about creative reuse, and develop action plans to enact on our campus, and in our local community to help develop a sustainable society. Through this process, students come to recognize the positive impact they can have on our community and our environment.
Eighth Grade Service: Bridging Generations
The eighth grade service learning program, Bridging Generations, is designed to develop an appreciation and respect for the older adults in our society. As we grow in our understanding of the roles cast upon the aging in our society, we explore the complex world in which the “old” must learn to live. Students closely evaluate the misconceptions and labels that are sometimes tagged to older adults, and learn about the aging process, and the challenges older adults face. They learn to design and adapt activities for older adults that entertain and engage. Through reflections, class discussions, and visits to Accordius Health (formerly known as the Brian Center,) students develop a sense of empathy and concern for human beings, regardless of their position in life. The service learning activities are student driven, providing an opportunity for the development and practice of planning, organization, collaboration and presentation skills. While creating friendships and learning about history through the life stories of residents, students become more aware about the community in which they live.


JournalismJournalism is the occupation of a diverse group of people who earn their living by writing or editing material of current interest for distribution via print or electronic media. The libertarian norms of "freedom of the press," the unofficial status of a "fourth estate," and the notion that modern society is greatly influenced by the content of the mass media all suggest an impressive and privileged role for the journalist in Canadian society. In an age of mass media administered by corporate executives and rapid advances in electronic communications, the character of journalism is by no means simple to define.
The Ideal of Professionalism
Journalism has always been conditioned by a series of institutional constraints: the state, the party system, the business imperatives of MEDIA OWNERSHIP, societal changes (such as urbanization, the diffusion of literacy and education), and the impact of technological innovation. These factors have interacted throughout the development of Canadian journalism to condition the standards, style, social status, and freedom of journalists. The professionalization of journalism is best understood as a historical process in which journalists responded to these various constraints with a variety of strategies to defend their group integrity. This process, however, has not amounted to a simple progression towards "freedom of the press." Instead, escape from one institutional constraint has often led to a new one, more subtle, and posing even greater obstacles to the ideal of professionalization.
Journalism and the British Connection
As a colony of the centralized Bourbon monarchy of France, NEW FRANCE was not allowed a printing press before 1760, in large part because French officialdom opposed establishing presses in the colony. Journalism came to Nova Scotia in 1751 in the wake of the British expedition to found Halifax, and to Québec in 1764 after the British Conquest. The character of publishing and the nature of society, however, provided little scope for journalists. Most of the population was still illiterate and newspaper circulations were small. The typical journalist was usually a publisher, editor and printer all in one. The weekly newspaper "gazettes" that developed were dependent on government printing for revenue. Journalists were subject to arbitrary arrest and they often had to post bond to ensure good behaviour. A publisher could be convicted of criminal or seditious libel merely for criticizing public officials.
Upholders of the Status Quo
In an age of revolution abroad and political reaction at home, the outspoken journalist was associated with rebellion, sedition and treason, an impression reinforced by the defection of Upper Canadian newspaper publisher Joseph WILLCOCKS to the Americans in 1813. Colonial elites looked upon the press as a convenience of the state, otherwise intolerable. The suppression of Le Canadien, which resulted in the imprisonment of Pierre BÉDARD and François BLANCHET in 1810 is just one example of this intolerance. Most journalists, however, accepted the state patronage, toed the official line, and served a faction of the ruling oligarchy.
Howe Strikes a Blow for Freedom of Expression
The libel case against Joseph HOWE in 1835 established the press as a vehicle of legitimate dissent in Canada. Impatient with the slow pace of reform, Howe used his paper, the NOVASCOTIAN (acquired in 1827), to criticize public policy and the magistrates who administered it. He was sent to jail and indicted for criminal libel. At his trial, he gave an impassioned defence of a free press and submitted evidence substantiating his allegations. Although he was clearly guilty, for the only issue of law before the court was whether or not he had published the defamatory remarks, the jury nonetheless acquitted Howe. The real and psychological threat of criminal libel that colonial regimes had held over the heads of publishers was now practically removed.
The Norms of Partisan Journalism to 1914
Further augmenting journalistic independence was the growth of commerce, literacy, and the mechanization of printing. Colonial society experienced serious tensions during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that gave rise to competitive political parties. Political conflict gave scope for the newspaper as a vehicle for dissent, a ready readership for such "opinionated" journalism, and the backers necessary to supply operating capital when necessary. In this changed environment, journalism began to take on a different character. The chief offering of the mid-Victorian press was opinion, usually partisan. Partisan or not, the Victorian journalist entered his "profession" because he had something to say. It might be William Lyon MACKENZIE attacking the FAMILY COMPACT or Egerton RYERSON defending the dissenting majority of Upper Canada in his Christian Guardian. "Personal" journalism flourished on a somewhat unstable commercial footing.
Individuality in journalism was often achieved at the expense of profit for the paper. Even large dailies were short-lived before Confederation. In the face of commercial uncertainties and the heat of political battle over RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT, journalists readily allied themselves with political parties. George BROWN, for example, was encouraged by the Reform Party in 1844 to start the Toronto Globe (see GLOBE AND MAIL). He employed the Globe as a party organ to expand readership and thereby to attract advertising revenue. The influence Brown gained as publisher helped consolidate his position as leader of the reconstituted Grit Reform Party after 1854, which in turn gave him tremendous editorial freedom as a journalist. Other successful newspaper entrepreneurs such as Edward WHELAN of the Charlottetown Examiner or Étienne PARENT of Le Canadien exercised influence and enjoyed editorial latitude through their combined roles of publisher-politician.
The payoffs of the party connection were real enough: partisan publishers gained access to patronage, power, even office. The progressive revision of libel laws to limit the liability of journalists, the formative conventions of the PARLIAMENTARY PRESS GALLERY, and favourable postal rates for periodicals were all effected at the high tide of party journalism. Partisan journalism, however, meant biased reporting. The maverick publisher faced financial reprisals, boycotts, loss of patronage and the threat of a new party-sponsored rival.
Party papers gradually began to assert their editorial independence after Confederation in 1867, leaving the norms of partisan conformity at least outwardly intact until 1914. Yet, even in the pioneer communities of the West, dependent party publishers such as Nicholas Flood DAVIN of the Regina Leader or Frank OLIVER of the Edmonton Bulletin could offer quality in their news and editorial columns. Ultimately, party journalism did not prevent the achievement of better standards.
The Rise of Big City Journalism
By the 1880s a revolution in the pattern of daily competition had begun. A new type of paper, the "people's journal," was developing in industrial cities to win a mass readership. Styles varied greatly, but people's journals abandoned close affiliation with political parties and emphasized not opinion but news, especially sensational news. They were challenged by revamped quality papers, such as the Montréal Gazette and the Toronto Mail, which strove to win an elite readership by offering extensive coverage of political and business affairs. The big-city dailies, usually several in each large metropolitan centre, separated the functions of reporters, desk men, city and news editors, and columnists. They thereby created in embryonic form, the basis for career journalism, which was still very hierarchical and dependent on the whims of publisher proprietors.
The personnel of journalism was changing in other ways as well. By the turn of the century, the increased complexity of the newspaper enterprise had encouraged the appearance of professional editors, such as John W. DAFOE of the Manitoba Free Press. Poorly paid reporters became the workhorses of the 20th-century newspaper office, and job pressures weeded out all but careerists. At the TORONTO STAR, Joseph E. Atkinson experimented in recruiting a few university men. A few audacious pioneering women were also able to gain entry into journalism, as Kit COLEMAN at the Mail and Empire and Edouardina Lesage ("Collette") at LA PRESSE, for example, started their careers in the new "women's sections" (seeCANADIAN WOMEN'S PRESS CLUB). E. Cora HIND, agricultural specialist of the Manitoba Free Press, and Simma Holt, reporter for the Vancouver SUN, found other ways to establish reputations. Each succeeding decade seemed to produce a new crop of pioneers determined to break into the field or extend the range of female achievement as both writers and editors. They were women like reporters Gwen Cash and Lotta Dempsey and magazine editor Doris ANDERSON.
The initiative in creating the original people's dailies was taken by individual entrepreneurs. Publishers were still people with something to say, and many failed precisely because they considered what they had to say more important than profits and a good business plan. Those who found a balance became the characters of their age: Hugh GRAHAM of the Montréal Star, E.E. Sheppard of SATURDAY NIGHT, Wilson Southam and Harry Southam of the Ottawa Citizen, and Joe Atkinson of the Toronto Star. Among the weeklies of the western frontier, Robert (Bob) EDWARDS of the Calgary Eye Opener (1902-22) and Margaret "Ma"MURRAY of the Bridge River-Lillooet News gained national notoriety.
The growing business imperatives of newspapers altered the conventions of the old party journalism. In Montréal, the sensationalist LA PRESSE (1884) of Trefflé Berthiaume almost wiped out the old-style dailies. Party organs imitated the people's journals to survive. However, beneath the gloss and diversity of the new popular style a second, more subtle revolution was occurring, which proved more fundamental in shaping journalism as a profession: the industrialization of newspapers into big business. In the face of rising costs and severe competition, the chief imperative of all newspapers was to find the formula to maximize readership and attract the most ADVERTISING. Papers that fell behind were doomed to extinction. Between 1914 and 1931, the trend was established for the single newspaper city and the newspaper chain. Successful publishers in larger centres became associates of the corporate elite. The model of journalism based on the "independent" editor-publisher was obsolete.
New Standards of Business Journalism
Ironically, the greatly expanded profession of salaried journalism had only escaped its partisan master to face a new order of big business. By the 1920s big-city dailies settled down in their rationalized markets to a superficial formula of day-to-day headline journalism. The rough edges of personal idiosyncrasy were smoothed away and newspapers in similarly sized markets came to be more and more alike. In response to radio, the scoop, the stunt or the human-interest story substituted for or complemented traditional editorial identities, often depending on the personalities of editors-in-chief or publishers determined to expand their readership and, hence, their advertising revenues. In this atmosphere a new ideal of objectivity or balanced coverage defined the professional ethos of career journalists, though the ideal was honoured no more consistently than the "principled" standards of the personal journalism that it had superseded.
The triumph of a business ethos at big-city dailies prompted a variety of strategies to achieve a new degree of professionalism. The Canadian Press Association and its successor, the Canadian Daily Newspapers Association (CDNA), were effective publisher lobbies that helped to rationalize the business side of newspapers. The CDNA contributed to the defence of publishers' prerogatives in such classic challenges to freedom of the press as the arbitrary Alberta Press Act of 1937 (seeALBERTA PRESS ACT REFERENCE 1938). The EDMONTON JOURNAL, published by John M. Imrie, received a Pulitzer Prize for leadership in the fight. Press councils and in-house complaints watchdogs or ombudsmen are more recent examples of industry-inspired efforts at accountability and professional standards of conduct.
News services developed at the initiative of publishers, eg, CANADIAN PRESS, emerging out of a rebellion of western newspapers against the Canadian Pacific Telegraph Co. By 1923 CP had become a nationwide co-operative of member papers, controlling the rights to the Associated Press world report. CP and its rivals were influential in developing the contemporary ideal of objective reporting, as they sought to serve an editorially diverse constituency. Also conducive to professional standards after 1900 was the parliamentary Press Gallery which, by the 1920s had become a voluntary, self-governing body. Admission to the Press Gallery gave entry to a competitive "jungle" in which political reporters sharpened their investigative skills, though these remained conditioned by ingrained partisan traditions and connections.
The Advent of Multimedia
By the mid-20th century the tempo of change had accelerated. Journalism was transformed by the internal need of working journalists to develop new strategies to define their role and status, and by the external pressure from communications businesses to find a successful formula in the competition for advertising in an environment of rapid innovations in communications technology and seemingly endless growth in audiences. Newsreels and radio had started the process but, with the arrival of television in the 1950s, old newspaper formats no longer assured a market share of readers or of advertisers. In the resulting uncertainty, journalists found greater latitude for initiative.
The PIPELINE DEBATE of 1956 served as a symbolic turning point at which the Press Gallery began to act like a public watchdog, criticizing the government from a more detached perspective. Canadian political journals (Jack Scott, Bruce Phillips, Douglas FISHER and Charles LYNCH) suddenly became "opinionated" again - but this time in an adversarial role against the politicians. Public-affairs programs on television, whether a newsmagazine such as THIS HOUR HAS SEVEN DAYS or a special documentary such as "Air of Death" (1967), were particularly prone to editorializing about perceived public wrongs. Radically changing public agendas were undermining and disorienting older professional points of reference regarding balanced coverage. Advocacy, muckraking and investigative reporting proved to be winning formulas in attracting new audiences. Instead of seeking to cajole a cadre of reliable partisan journalists in traditional fashion, successful politicians increasingly earned the advantages of catering to and manipulating the media collectively using public-relations techniques.
Rising Standards and Status
Technology gave greater latitude to photo, film and broadcast journalists. Technology also permitted some working journalists to attain unprecedented status. René LÉVESQUE, for example, capitalized on the novelty of television to launch himself as a media star and leading personality in Québec politics. Gordon SINCLAIR settled for media stardom and personal wealth by simultaneously pursuing careers in 3 media. The rewards in the form of enhanced professional latitude could become self-generating for elite journalists, who won a mass audience in more than one news medium through a combination of strong views, professional integrity, and impeccable writing or broadcasting skills. Jack WEBSTER, Allan FOTHERINGHAM, Barbara FRUM, Jeffrey Simpson, Bernard Derome and Judith Jasmin were representative of a whole class of modern journalists who became assets too valuable for a publisher or producer to dare censor and who often were more famous than the public figures they analysed or interviewed.
The expanded opportunities for most workaday reporters did not translate into an improvement of working conditions, and even successful journalists turned to union organizations to deal with problems of poor pay and job security, irregular hours, and arbitrary management. The most successful union was the American Newspaper Guild (ANG), which signed its first collective agreement with the Toronto Star in 1949. By 1960 union rates, if not unionization, set the standards for the industry.
French-Canadian journalists, following the bitter strike of French-speaking CBC personnel in 1958-59, became the militant vanguard. The radical idea of using collective bargaining to achieve editorial independence for staff members, however, was defeated in the bitter strike at La Presse in 1964 (seeLA PRESSE STRIKE). Though the 1969 contracts at La Presse and LE SOLEIL contained "professional clauses," the legal language deprived them of much substance.
Declarations of editorial policy made as management initiative, eg, at the Toronto Star, described the most ambitious standards in the industry, but could not resolve the tension between working journalists and the managers of mass media organizations. A survey of Canadian journalists at major dailies in 1973 showed that 50% of those surveyed had had their copy altered significantly without prior consultation. The departure of Linda McQuaig from the Globe and Mail in a conflict over editorial interference almost a generation after that survey was symptomatic of the continuing constraints that can arise in the production of news. On the whole, however, unionized journalists took compensation in better working conditions, hours and pay, and the engagement engendered by a rapidly changing social and political agenda; it is no surprise that news reporting attracted a new generation of university graduates, including unprecedented numbers of women, into its ranks.
After WWII some universities in Canada introduced courses in journalism. CARLETON UNIVERSITY and RYERSON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (now Ryerson University) established the first full undergraduate programs, while the UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO became an innovator in specialty seminars and graduate programs oriented to working journalists. In 1968 UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL introduced the first journalism program at a Québec university. By the 1970s dozens of universities, community colleges and CEGEPs offered an array of diplomas, certificates and degrees in communications studies or journalism. The changes in educational standards were evident by 1973: over 40% of working journalists at city dailies had a university degree of some kind.
By the 1960s journalists had become more self-critical of their craft. Organizations of working journalists, eg, la Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec or the Institute for Investigative Journalism, provided forums for journalists to develop a common sense of professionalism, as did radical "alternative" magazines such as Content. Other quasi-professional organizations like the PERIODICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA (est. 1976; now Professional Writers Association of Canada) worked more quietly to set standards and improve the leverage of freelancers in relation to publishers. A few newspapers and the CBC (after 1967) provided training programs, though these initiatives were weakened rather than strengthened by community college programs. Some newspapers initiated summer training schools for select university undergraduates and by the 1980s journalists were often granted a leave of absence to further their university studies.
Pretensions of a Fourth Estate
The trends in unionization, university education, and professional development contributed to a rising debate about the role of the press and its freedom. Critics developed a variety of catchphrases to rationalize a new degree of professional independence and to indict the status quo. Under the influence of communications theory, newly affluent journalists became self-conscious about bias created by "snarlwords," social class, or "pack journalism"; their ideological role as gatekeepers; and the behavioural effects of the mass media. Proposed reforms included advocacy journalism, investigative reporting, the more radical notions of an alternative press, "staff democracy," and reporter control.
The New Journalism, however, was far less radical than the rhetoric would imply. Before long, more conservative critiques raised the spectre of attack journalism, where the ends of investigative journalism might justify undue licence in the means. A new generation of reporters and publishers also learned the practical chilling effects of potential libel suits. Compromise on the issue of standards between journalists and their news establishments was made possible by the technological nature of the new media environment. A journalist might in a day research the background for a feature story that in the past might have taken weeks. Efficient use of news-gathering technologies required a high degree of delegation of authority and editorial independence, at least to the more experienced reporters. The media stardom of the few set expectations for professional integrity among news staff and public alike, which proprietors and business executives ignored at the peril of their enterprises. Moreover, the market and business impact of changes in technology made it imperative to find journalistic formats that attracted the attention of a more affluent and sophisticated, but highly fickle and segmented audience.
Journalism in Cyberspace
At the end of the 20th century, the profession had to contend with a multitude of influences and challenges. Publishers, large and small, flocked to the Internet, eager to establish a presence to complement their print offering. The 24-hour news cycle began with no sign of ever stopping, and the profession had to adapt by becoming more flexible and time-sensitive. While deadlines still existed for the print editions, there was a constant demand for new and updated material to be made available online. In an environment of rapid technological innovation, reinforced by a liberated free-market ideology, the merger of traditional media and interactive communication technologies was literally transforming the meaning and nature of news, blurring the distinctions between advertising, news, entertainment, editorial content, and special pleading (not to mention creative writing, manipulated graphic images, and even plagiarism). In addition, journalists faced a new generation of corporate media proprietors bent on making generic information services pay and, in certain cases, making them vehicles for their own ideological priorities.
Changes in the work environment and advances in technology affected the practices of the trade as well. Journalists were now called upon to blog and share the news behind the news in an effort to attract and retain an audience. The audience, however, not only wanted to access the news in new and instant ways, it also wanted to participate in reporting and share its opinion. This led to the emergence of the citizen journalists, individuals with an interest in current affairs, access to a computer and a point of view.
Journalists in Canada and the world over have seen their environment change constantly, and more changes are afoot. As the 21st century enters its teen years, newspaper and broadcasting proprietors continue to struggle with selecting the right business model for their operations. They continue to review and question whether the costly infrastructure they have built and that worked so well in the past is feasible in the face of lower-cost alternatives. Such reviews often result in downscaled newsrooms, the closing of bureaus, and even cooperation with erstwhile competitors.
The lowering of the barrier into journalism in the form of blogging and social networking has also led to a greater focus on the substance and accuracy of news stories by an audience eager to take a hands-on approach to reporting news, checking facts, and finding fault. Thus, journalists face more scrutiny in their reporting than ever before and "new" journalists typically focus on allegations of left or right leanings and plagiarism. Concerning the latter, a number of journalists, some well-known, have been forced to resign or, at a minimum, apologize and retract statements after having been found out by other members of the media or a zealous public. A case in point is the so-called Wafergate scandal of July 2009, in which a New Brunswick newspaper reported that Prime Minister Stephen Harper had pocketed a communion host at the funeral of former Governor General Romeo Leblanc. The media jumped on the story, but it was quickly discovered that the news had been falsely reported, with information changed after the journalists had filed their story. The newspaper was forced to apologize to the public, the prime minister, and its own reporters, and the publisher and editor were fired.
While the next milestone in the ongoing transformation of the fourth estate is hard to predict, recent changes seem to bolster the chances of survival of the free-press ideal, which is by no means a foregone conclusion. Joseph Howe would have understood that the economic marketplace is not the only institution requiring risk-takers to flourish and grow.