In this paper, we have drawn on the work of students and teachers involved in the Developing
Inquiring Communities in Education Project to argue for the value of treating writing, not as an
end in itself, but as a tool for knowledge building. In particular, we have drawn attention to the
importance of agency - the making of deliberate, functional choices - as well as working in
collaboration with others as criterial features of such communities. As we hope to have shown,
when writing is used as a means of knowledge building, not only do students extend their
repertoire of writing strategies but the effort they put into creating functionally effective texts
plays a significant role in their learning and enhances the development of shared understanding
among all those involved. In this spirit, we invite our readers to continue the dialogue by sharing
their suggestions about how writing of various kinds and in various genres can serve as a means
for knowledge building.9