1 Cremin T, and Baker S (2014) Teachers as Writers: implications for identity a PETAA occasional research paper; Sydney; PETAA Writers’ ideŶtities ŵatter: influenced by personal histories and experiences, our identities as writers influence the way in which we approach writing and are likely to influence our teaching of writing. Teachers’ writing identities deserve more recognition and development in schooling. This PETAA paper, drawing upon research in this area, seeks to enable teachers to reflect upon themselves as writers outside the school context, and explores multiple ways in which teachers can model being a writer in the classroom. It provides some examples and illustrations of the benefits and challenges involved in teachers’ positioŶiŶg theŵselves as writers in the classroom. Teachers as writers: research in the field It has long been maintained that teachers need be able to write and should position themselves as writers, undertaking the same tasks as their students. The notion that teachers should be writers emerged in Eŵigs ;ϭ97ϭͿ earlLJ ǁork aŶd ǁas later ďuilt upon by Graves (1983), who asserted that teaching writing requires the control of the inseparable crafts of teaching and writing. Whilst his work has been critiqued for being anecdotal and unsystematic (Smagorinsky, 1987), it prompted practitioners to use their compositions as teaching tools and sowed the seeds of a number of related studies. Indeed, Yeo (2007), examining Canadian teachers perspectives, claims that those who write in their personal lives develop their writing identities and transmit the benefits of such practice in their teaching of writing. International evidence though suggests a worrying number of pre-service teachers view writing as difficult and potentially exposing; they edžpress ĐoŶĐerŶs aďout teaĐhiŶg ǁritiŶg aŶd teŶd to ŵake Ŷegatiǀe judgeŵeŶts aďout their edžpertise as ǁriters (Peel, 1995; Domaille and Edwards, 2006; Gallavan et al. 2007; Luce-Kapler et al. 2001). In one studLJ the ŵajoritLJ of traiŶees reported Ŷot ǁritiŶg outside Đlass aŶd lacked confidence as writers ;MorgaŶ ϮϬϭϬͿ; it is argued this related to their loǁ self–esteeŵ, Ŷegatiǀe self-laďelliŶg aŶd poor edžperieŶĐes iŶ sĐhooliŶg. Other studies affirŵ this, suggestiŶg teaĐhers are neither as confident or as assured writers as they are readers, and that tensions exist between their perceptions of self as teachers and/or writers (Cremin, 2006; Gannon and Davies, 2007) with consequences for classroom practice. In seeking to connect teaching, writing and identity, this paper draws on a view of identity as plural, context-dependent and relational – that is enacted and developed through interactions with others (McCarthey and Moje, 2002). In exploring US literacy specialists ideŶtities as ǁriters aŶd their ideŶtities aŶd perforŵaŶĐes as teachers of writing, McKinney and Giorgis (2009) reveal the conflictual nature of teaĐhers ǁriter ideŶtities. They expose some of the multiple discontinuities that exist, showing for example that teachers Đhildhood edžperieŶĐes of sĐhool ǁritiŶg have complex consequences and repercussions on their identities as writers and teachers of writing and that these interplay with issues of power, control and status.