It is a means of communicating information to a reader at a later point in time.
English in school typically involves studying literature-prose & poetry. These components are crucial to enable students to enhance their comprehension skills and vocabulary. Which is the reason why lesson notes generally have questions and answers and meanings. An additional component is creative writing. This component makes a lot of sense as it is directly linked to the main component- prose & poetry. How about writing skills in the context of what is happening in the real world?
Writing in the real world isn't limited to stories and poetry. It is a means of communicating information to a reader at a later point in time. WhatsApp messages, emails, reports, letters, checklists, instructions etc. One may argue that letter writing is covered in school. Sure it is. There is pre determined format that is taught without giving an explanation as to why the format exists. For instance, have you ever wondered why formal letters begin with "Dear Sir/Madam?" In many instances in which you use the formal letter format, it is very likely that you do not know the recipient at all. So how did that person become dear to you?
The reason behind that connotation is the fact that since you do not know this person, you are taking the first step forward to be polite and show empathy towards the recipient. People like it when someone shows them empathy, no matter how important they may be. What could be a better way to make someone who can help you to help you than making them feel respected?
Writing as a skill can help in problem solving and dispute resolution.
At the Young Executives Club of Talking Circles, there are a number of different perspectives that every member comes up with. Sure sometimes most of them think the same way but there are times when that's not the case. These situations result in heated debates between members, each one trying to win by making a convincing argument.
When the whiteboard gets pulled out and everyone's point of view is listed, the bigger picture becomes visible. The group begins to see all the perspectives at once and begin to understand that there are several sides to the same coin and not one perspective is totally wrong.
Every member feels happy to see his or her point of view being taken note of when it is written on the whiteboard. They are hence more likely to listen to others since they have been heard. Those who tend to be silent, feel motivated to contribute too. Their thoughts matter and must go up on the whiteboard.
The bigger picture helps in arriving at a solution that is acceptable by majority if not all.
For this exercise to work, it is important that the content written on the board is written precisely. Otherwise, we would be moving from one intuitive mess to a more visual mess on the whiteboard leading the group nowhere. Writing precisely takes practice but there is little opportunity to master this skill at the school level.
Why bother about the whiteboard in school? Isn't that for corporates?
That argument can be used to a number of things. Why learn about money for instance when it is relevant only when is old enough to earn and spend? That's different I hear you say. Understanding money is about responsibility. It needs to start early. In the same lines precis writing as a skill is useful even in school. Writing crisp answers to convey correctly to the teacher what one has understood is one such example. The teacher typically has several papers to correct. Writing clearly and precisely is way to show her empathy and make her job easier. That enhances the probability of scoring marks as well provided the answers are correct.