“Allowing inexperienced writers to choose their own topics can get in the way of teaching writing effectively.”
Is there any research evidence to support this view? Or is it just another edu-myth?
This is one of those slippery claims. The idea that any teacher would just leave children to choose their own writing ideas without instruction or feedback. No one would reasonably suggest that. If we support children to choose their own writing topics there is no chaos – no confusion. Through explicit idea generation instruction, and through the use of Writing Registers, there is only rigour and organisation.
🧠 The case for topic choice: Far from a hippie-free-for-all
Let’s start by being clear: giving children a say in what they write about is not the same as letting them write anything, any time, in any way. In well-designed writing curriculums, choice doesn’t mean chaos – it means authenticity (Young & Ferguson 2021). After all, generating ideas is part of a writer’s process – we have to teach it. Particularly when we consider the STA wants children’s writing to be independent.
Research consistently shows that students are more motivated, write more fluently, and engage more deeply when they can write about topics that matter to them (Young 2024).
When students are emotionally connected to their writing, they care more about crafting it well (Young 2025).
Children with SEND can benefit even more when given support to choose their own writing topics (Allgood 2025). The idea that giving children with SEND tightly prescribed topics makes the writing process easier for them is simply not true. In many cases, it makes writing even harder for them (see LINK for more details).
🏗️ Structure and choice should coexist
The myth assumes that offering choice and delivering high-quality instruction are incompatible. But the reality is that the most effective writing teachers do exactly this (Young & Ferguson 2021).
For example, in Writing for Pleasure schools, we use genre-based writing units that teach craft knowledge while supporting pupils to choose what they would like to write about most.
A class might all be working on persuasive texts, but one pupil writes about banning school uniforms, another about saving hedgehogs, and another about why videogames are good for your soul! Same genre, same high-quality teaching points – just different passions and independent outcomes.
This blend of explicit and direct instruction with genuine authorship is exactly what the most successful writing classrooms achieve (Young & Ferguson 2021).
🔄 What’s really behind this myth?
At heart, this myth seems to stem not from research evidence, but assumption.
Let’s put the myth to the test.
| Claim | Evidence? |
| Supporting student choice harms writing quality | ❌ No. Research shows it boosts motivation and writing productivity when scaffolded. |
| Supporting student choice prevents effective teaching | ❌ No. Teachers can deliver explicit instruction through genre-based writing projects with individual topic choice. |
| Supporting student choice is too difficult for novice writers or learners with SEND | ❌ No. Many benefit from supported choice – not less of it. |
✅ The Verdict
The idea that supporting student choice gets in the way of effective writing teaching is a myth. What really gets in the way is rigid curricula that treats writing as a formula rather than a craft (Dyson 2020). Children, even novice writers, benefit both cognitively and motivationally from being treated as authors with something to say, and from teachers who help them say it as effectively as they can.
References and further reading:
- Boscolo, P., & Gelati, C. (2019). Writing motivation and writing development: Key issues.
- Dockrell, J., Ricketts, J., Charman, T., & Lindsay, G. (2014). Profiles of writing difficulties in children with language and literacy difficulties.
- Dyson, A. H. (2020). “This isn’t my real writing”: The fate of children’s agency in too-tight curricula. Theory Into Practice, 59(2), 119-127.
- Graham, S., et al. (2012). Teaching Elementary School Students to Be Effective Writers.
- Young, R., & Ferguson, F. (2021). Real-World Writers: A Handbook for Teaching Writing with 10- and 11-Year-Olds. London: Routledge
- Young, R., & Ferguson, F. (2023). Supporting Children With SEND To Be Great Writers Brighton: The Writing For Pleasure Centre
- Young, R., & Ferguson, F. (2021). Young, R. (2024) Motivating Writing Teaching Brighton: The Writing For Pleasure Centre
- Young, R. (2025) “It’s healthy. It’s good for you”: Children’s perspectives on utilising their autonomy in the writing classroom UKLA International Conference – Liverpool – 2025