Developing a differentiated model for the teaching of creative writing to high performing students

Differentiating writing instruction has been a puzzling matter for English teachers when it comes to teaching creative writing to high potential and high performing (HPHP) students. The lack of differentiation in creative writing pedagogy for HPHP students in Australia is due to two major issues: (1) teachers’ lack of high-level linguistic and pedagogical knowledge and (2) insufficient curriculum support. The paper discusses current practice in HPHP education in the area of creative writing and demonstrates the types of knowledge required of teachers to enable them to extend beyond a regular curriculum and effectively differentiate their teaching in terms of content and process.