Many students experience difficulties when it comes to writing essays in short- or long-form. Sometimes they have writer’s block, because they don’t know how to start or to continue. Others may not maintain a clear focus throughout the essay, and they might write vague general statements. Yet more see essays as simply the regurgitation of knowledge. This is a clear misunderstanding on their part.

The essay writing process is an opportunity for growth: in how they think and how they write. Providing them with clear guidance, feedback on draft work, and opportunities to practice, can help them to develop confident essay writing skills. 

Three core skills are essential for good essays. 

1. R&R Research and Reading Skills – not rest and relaxation!

Research skills are the starting point for every student. Once the teacher has identified a starting point, in a textbook for example, the student might follow this trail onwards, looking for case studies, surveys, relevant statistics, first- and second-hand accounts, newspapers and government papers and other grey literature (reports, working papers and the like). It is vitally important to pay attention to how authoritative are these sources because online information can be uploaded and edited without little quality assurance. 

With a wide range of reliable and quality sources, the student will be much better placed to obtain a deeper understanding after s/he has undertaken directed pre-reading followed by a detailed reading of the source material. In this way, they operate with focus – connecting research and note-taking to the overall structure of the source material and, from there, direct to the parameters of the essay. In this way, s/he is better equipped to confirm relevant facts and generate new angles of research

2. Critical and Analytical Thinking

When we say that essays are an opportunity for growth, we really mean it. As students’ progress through education, they are required to become more independent. Essay writing allows them to develop critical and analytical thinking skills. Negotiating different perspectives and acting on these, in an informed way, is also an invaluable life skill. 

Essays allow them to examine different sources that also drive the viewpoints of authors. Being openminded about these perspectives also means that the student can review and change their own views in light of what they are learning. 

Useful prompts for critical and analytical thinking include the following:

What evidence is cited to support the case? 

Is there a solid line of reasoning or any contradictions?

Are alternative viewpoints considered that might impact on the conclusions? What else could be going on, beneath the surface, and that might skew an argument in one direction or another? This is especially important for sources that may be less reliable.

3. Writing and Referencing Skills

Most writers – and students are writers too – rewrite early drafts because the perfectly structured piece does not emerge at the first attempt. Drafts are part of the process of ‘thinking aloud’ and achieving clarity. It is useful for students to pay attention to how they might say something more concisely without losing the main emphasis. This also allows them to add more details to an idea or section. 

Writing is therefore part of the sensemaking process. At first, the ideas may be jumbled, require further sieving and clarification and then, later, they will become more structured and easier connected. 

‘Map It’ – The introduction will be a map for the reader that will preview how and why the essay is arranged as it is. ‘Say It’ – The main body is where the student demonstrates knowledge and understanding of a topic. It will be organised around a key argument or thesis, which will have sub-headings and paragraphs. These are jigsaw pieces, each of which forms an important part of the whole picture. ‘Recap It’ – The conclusion will remind the reader of the purpose of the essay, the journey that was completed and any final remarks. 

As a final sensemaking exercise, the student might compare the conclusion, introduction and main body to see if they match each other, whether there is a logical order and if there are any major omissions. 

Referencing affirms the growth in a student’s independence and autonomy as a learner and is also part of the process of demonstrating their understanding. There are a lot of unforeseen issues with commercially available essays and with an uncritical reliance upon AI-generated or AI-supplemented material. If a student cannot prove the originality of essay content – through their research notes, planning, and draft work – there is a significant missed opportunity for improving their own learning. There are also negative consequences to claiming the work of others, without due acknowledgement. 

It is important to use quotation marks to indicate where someone else’s words have been used in an. The words inside the marks “are those said or written by someone else”, and the source is acknowledged by including the appropriate reference, usually by author, year and page number, (e.g. Inspire Study Skills Guide, 2021, p14) in the text itself, in a footnote or endnote. The full details of the reference might then be included in a Reference List at the end of your essay, depending on the requirements. Long-answer essays in an end-of-year exam may have different referencing requirements than that of an essay that forms part of coursework. 

There are two main benefits to be gained from referencing all sources.

First, the student can illustrate the breadth of reading and research. Being able to demonstrate understanding, and from where this has been gleaned, is part of the transmission of knowledge, from one generation to the next. The more sources – of the appropriate kind – that can be used by the student, the stronger will be his/her knowledge base. But beware of higher and lower quality sources in the post-Truth world. 

Second, when a reference is used, the student avoids any risk of plagiarism. This is claiming someone else’s work as his/her own, intentionally or otherwise. Plagiarism is treated seriously: with various punishments such as a marks deduction or even a nil outcome, suspension of, or expulsion from, school/university for multiple offences. There is a very real risk that students may copy material unintentionally, from the Internet especially, if they engage in regurgitation or ‘copy and paste’ modes of learning and approaches to study. Beware of the fact that a lot of online material is not fact-checked nor is it subjected to the kind of quality assurance built into the production of textbooks. To avoid this, the simplest advice is to always reference sources and to encourage students to rely on their understanding of material by using their own words, where possible. This is known as paraphrasing and a thesaurus will also help them expand vocabulary and become more confident at doing this. 

Last Words.

Teaching students how to write good essays is not just about helping them complete assignments—it’s about equipping them with critical skills that will serve them for a lifetime. By guiding students through the processes of understanding the prompt, researching, planning, writing, and revising, you help them build a foundation for success. Encouraging regular practice, providing feedback, and fostering a growth mindset will empower your students to become confident, skilled essay writers who can articulate their thoughts with clarity and conviction.

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