A praxis of pre-service english teacher writing: Walter Benjamin and 'operating writers' in an age of standardisation

Drawing on Bakhtin’s dialogic theory, and literature from the fields of writing studies and teacher education research, this chapter explores how these pre-service English teacher writers can be seen building their agency as they prepare to enter the English teaching profession. In 2004, Darling-Hammond noted the ‘unintended effects’ that standards-based reforms were having in western educational systems at the time, including the standardising of writing. The discussion around text production involves debates about whether writing for assessment should be seen as a product that reflects students’ past learning, or whether the focus should be on writing as a set of processes, practices and experiences that looks forward, in effect activating new learning for the writer. Writing as social activity can be understood in terms of Bakhtin’s argument that all language and all utterances are fundamentally social. The concept of identity work is widely understood as the negotiations that individuals and groups engage in as part of their ongoing identity development.