FIRST WAS THE WORD:

CREATIVE WRITING
TEACHING STRATEGIES
THAT ENCOURAGE
REFLEXIVITY
A Research Proposal
Prepared by Reyshimar C. Arguelles
M.Ed. ESL - 2
INTRODUCTION
Creative writing serves as a bridge towards honing learners' academic
writing skills (Randolph, 2011; Şenel, 2018). The only challenge then
is encouraging learners to see the value of CW and how it can help
them enhance their creative capacities.

Senior High School learners enrolled under the Humanities and Social
Sciences track are expected to develop creative skills in reading and
writing, but it remains to be seen if the strategies employed by CW
teachers produce the ideal outcomes.
 ? ? ?
W ?
H O
U T
B
THE FOUNDATION OF
IMAGINATIVE WRITING
Ryan (2014), in her work on Archer's theory of
reflexivity, suggests providing ample space for learners
to deliberate on their choices based on the social and
cultural factors that have molded them.
Research Objectives
This study aims to identify strategies that are effective in
developing reflexivity among senior high school leaners of the
Humanities and Social Sciences Track of Iloilo National High
School. Specifically, this study aims to:
1. Identify common classroom strategies used by senior
high school creative writing teachers;
2. Evaluate reflexivity in learner’s outputs; and
3. Determine which classroom strategies encourage
reflexivity.
Due to the complex nature of human creativity itself, there is a
need to create well-rounded teaching strategies that address
creative constraints that learners face as they perform within
the classroom.

Research Questions:
1. What strategies can CW teachers employ that will help learners
become more engaged?
2. What motivates CW learners to become more invested to
perform?
3. How can CW learners demonstrate their ability to write
REASONS FOR POOR PERFORMANCE
IN CREATIVE WRITING TASKS:
1. Performance anxiety (Kabigting & Nanud, 2020).
2. Poor command of the target language,
motivation, difficulty in organizing concepts, etc.
(Saavedra & Barredo, 2020)
3. Neurological factors (an imbalance between fight
or flight responses) (Bane, 2010)
STRUCTURED VS UNSTRUCTURED
WRITING SITUATIONS
Systematic lessons allow learners to become more
aware of how they perform and follow standards of
good writing. "Blueprints" could therefore expose
them to different possible paths their creative skills
may take. (Smith, 2006).
STRUCTURED VS UNSTRUCTURED
WRITING SITUATIONS
Ryan (2014) counters this by saying that formulaic
approaches to CW teaching could hamper learners'
ability to reflect on their choices and innovate the
way they write.
THREE TYPES OF WRITERS:
1. School Writers

2. Constrained Writers

3. Reflexive Writers
THREE TYPES OF WRITERS:
3. Reflexive Writers
“Go beyond school discourses”
Demonstrate effective use of creative language
Aware of how their writing impacts their audience
CW PEDAGOGY THAT
ENCOURAGES REFLEXIVITY
1. Digital materials (songs, films, blogs, etc.) (Manalastas,
2020)
2. Reflective journals (Hussein et al., 2020)
3. Collaborative activities (Rocha & Casanova, 2023; Acuin
et al., 2018)
4. Critical reading of selected literary texts (Adam &
Babiker, 2015)
5. Self-regulatory activities (Buque, 2023)
If developing creative skills is the end-all and be-all of
creative writing subjects, then it is crucial to determine
what techniques deliver on such ends.