The cloud of COVID-19 hung in the air, and we all wondered how the Summer Writing Institute would be impacted. We worried about the strain of connections available via Zoom in an intensive two-week institute, and the solo experiences of a walking curriculum limited to our own neighbourhoods.
However, the 2021 Summer Writing Institute proved to be the largest yet. Twenty-eight educational leaders participated in the 2021 Summer Writing Institute from two provinces and one U.S. state, expanding the reach of the Manitoba Writing Project beyond provincial borders. Together, we aimed to build community, inquire about our world, and connect place-based literacies to issues of social justice, eco-justice, and human rights, constantly considering how we could apply these techniques in our own positions as educators, administrators, and provincial leaders. Differences in geography, culture, language, and educational perspectives and experiences brought important dimension to our learning as a community.
However, the 2021 Summer Writing Institute proved to be the largest yet. Twenty-eight educational leaders participated in the 2021 Summer Writing Institute from two provinces and one U.S. state, expanding the reach of the Manitoba Writing Project beyond provincial borders. Together, we aimed to build community, inquire about our world, and connect place-based literacies to issues of social justice, eco-justice, and human rights, constantly considering how we could apply these techniques in our own positions as educators, administrators, and provincial leaders. Differences in geography, culture, language, and educational perspectives and experiences brought important dimension to our learning as a community.
Writing For/As Human Rights
The Summer Writing Institute began far before the two weeks we spent together over Zoom as each participant engaged critically with several texts, including Chavez’s (2021) Anti-Racist Writing Workshop, as well as Young and Ferguson’s (2021) Writing for Pleasure.
Drawing from their own questions about writing and the teaching of writing, the readings, and workshops led by Katya Ferguson and Amanda Capina, each participant developed a 30-minute writing lesson which they shared with their teaching demonstration groups. In response to these demonstrations, participants followed Chavez’s guide (adapted from Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process) for providing feedback:
Drawing from their own questions about writing and the teaching of writing, the readings, and workshops led by Katya Ferguson and Amanda Capina, each participant developed a 30-minute writing lesson which they shared with their teaching demonstration groups. In response to these demonstrations, participants followed Chavez’s guide (adapted from Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process) for providing feedback:
- Step 1: Participants shared what they found exciting, compelling, meaningful, memorable, and/or evocative about the demonstration and their experience of it.
- Step 2: The writer/teacher/leader posed two to three planned questions regarding the demonstration for which they sought feedback from the participants.
- Step 3: Participants posed neutral questions to the writer/teacher/leader (which the writer/teacher/leader could choose to answer).
- Step 4: Participants offered to share an opinion, suggestion, or idea regarding the teaching demonstration, which the writer/teacher/leader could choose to hear.
2021 Summer Writing Institute Anthology
Every day during the Summer Writing Institute, participants engaged in thoughtful reflections and place-based writing, using the time allotted to wander and wonder. In our explorations, we drew on invitations from Heard’s (1995) Writing Toward Home and Judson’s (2018) A Walking Curriculum, as well as the writings of diverse scholars and knowledge of two guest speakers, University of Manitoba faculty members, Drs. Robert Mizzi and Brian Rice.
We are thrilled now to announce the launch of the 2021 Summer Writing Institute Anthology, which features group and individual writing submitted by participants. We encourage you to read, be inspired, and write!
We are thrilled now to announce the launch of the 2021 Summer Writing Institute Anthology, which features group and individual writing submitted by participants. We encourage you to read, be inspired, and write!
Summer Writing Institute Anthology 2021 |