DfE’s new Writing Framework will “bore the pants off children”, says literacy expert whom it namechecked
Department for Education: with questions to answer about the new Writing Framework. Pic: Alamy.
Professor Debra Myhill among educationists with scathing critiques of the new document.
The Department for Education’s new guidance on how to teach writing to primary pupils will “bore the pants off children,” one of the most respected voices in the field, who is listed as having been consulted about the document, has said.
Debra Myhill, Professor Emerita in Language and Literacy Education at the University of Exeter, said that the new Writing Framework’s over-emphasis of the technical aspects of literacy, which she nevertheless said were important, at the expense of creativity and the sense of being a writer, stood to rob children of their motivation to write.
She also suggested that the document had cherry-picked from the research base, only citing evidence which seemed to support its “pre-determined” view of the way that writing should be taught.
Professor Myhill’s comments, speaking to this website, came after Education Uncovered broke the news yesterday of controversy around the phonics company owner Ruth Miskin’s association with the report.
This piece will look at growing controversy around last week’s report, also covering criticism of what it says about the teaching of handwriting.
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By Warwick Mansell for EDUCATION UNCOVERED
Published: 17 July 2025
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A good follow-up to yesterday's post covering the influence of Ruth Miskin. Some heart-warming framing of what writing opportunities children should have beyond the technical issues so beloved by those who "teach by numbers". We should cling to Michael Rosen's recent comments here and on "X"; the clarity and precision of his understanding of teaching and learning are treasured by the informed.
Again we seem to have the same pattern as we have seen in many there reports / frameworks in the last few years. A select group asked by the DfE, often linked to commercial interests or in tune with their ideology, produces a report which cherry picks and often misrepresents the broad research (the Ofsted subject reports were real culprits here). When criticism comes those who have real experience and expertise (like Myhill above) are countered by those who have opinion not expertise.
None of this surprises me, unfortunately, as a professional journalist/technical writer and published science fiction author who now home educates my own kids. There's some really weird material about writing/language on Oak National Academy, which I found when I started out home edding (https://www.thenational.academy/teachers/programmes/english-primary-ks2/units/the-iron-man-narrative-writing/lessons/writing-the-opening-of-the-iron-man?). It's creativity murdering and, if I'd been introduced to fiction this way, I'd never have two short stories now in publication and be writing a novel. There's no encouragement in any of the Iron Giant worksheets for a child to invent their own story and use language to communicate it effectively, which is - at the core - of what writing is for!!!!! All of the lessons are memorising the technical names for parts of language (which I never did at school) and then copying Ted Hughes' work. I'm sure, if he saw this, he'd rotate in his grave because I'm definite that he, too, would agree this isn't how to encourage the next generation of writers!!