YOUTH AND WRITING: IN-SCHOOL AND OUT OF SCHOOL PRACTICES IN PORTUGAL

ABSTRACT: We present writing practices within curricular (requested by teachers) and extra-curricular (free initiative) contexts by students (ages 9-15), attending Basic Education in Portugal; data was collected by means of a national survey. These practices express a vast and dynamic relationship with writing that is (re)constructed by the individuals. Indeed, the Didactics of Writing has highlighted the necessity to understand the personal relationship that individuals (re)create with the act of writing in a more profound manner, for it contains their motivations or detachment factors that have led them to reject the practice of written verbal production. The results show a greater diversity of out of school practices that contrast with focused in-school writing practices designed to prioritize teaching-learning goals. Nevertheless, we note connecting elements between the two contexts that inform a more favourable didactic approach towards a more significant path between the individuals and writing.