Observations of American instructors and students in England, as well as English publications, reveal that English primary teachers treat writing as a way for children to share their personal experiences, and they correspondingly emphasize freedom of expression, fluency, and the retention and development of imaginative responses. Teachers enrich and supplement children's experiences by collecting objects for the students' examination, using various media, fostering classroom projects, or reading imaginative literature aloud. They avoid textbooks and formal lessons, teach mechanics only upon request, and rarely place grades or extensive comments upon the papers. Instead, the children's work is dignified through inclusion in class booklets or wall displays. English children, although they informally master mechanics as well as American students, manifest a more spontaneous eagerness to write than their American counterparts, and they produce numerous works of high quality with style and coherence derived from the integrity of their imaginations and perceptions. (JM)